#later meaning within a few days Maybe not guaranteeing today
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shinjiist · 2 years ago
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Can you elaborate more abt legato and knives in ur soul eater au 🥺👉👈
idk exactly what ur asking for so sorry if this isn't touching on the points u want BUT! they meet their "freshman" year fall semester idk what school system they're using whatever they're annoying and thirteen years old
i think meisters and weapons have to be paired together by some rule or smt so vash is roomed with livio and knives is paired w/ just someone in the NOT class which happens to be legato. they do not get along at first (legato "male living space" bluesummers roomed w/ knives "absolutely fucking not" millions). they do warm up to eachother over the course of the year because of the fact that they're constantly in eachother's space in their tiny dorm apartment thing if nothing else.
by the time the second fall rolls around the two of them are civil with eachother. they both test into the EAT class that semester— that being said, finding knives a partner is an Ordeal. both because his 1st weapon form (more on that later) is insane and difficult to use (esp if u like have any formal training in anything) and because he's a little judgy and he's blunt and his track record of first impressions is abysmal . so he and legato are kind of stuck with eachother (legato could have gotten another partner but ugh moving dorms) (and he enjoys knives's company)
the two of them stagnate for a while when they're new. knives wants to push for harder missions to catch up with vash who's well on his way to making livio into a death scythe, but he can't actually let legato do what he needs to on his end (backseat driver) and they hit a wall until he can actually trust legato .
they do make a good pair, though. legato goes through with knives's overarching plans and thinks quickly when it comes to ripples in the fabric. they do well together for a few years. during this time is when vash kinda fumbles with the witch's soul and livio decides the EAT class isn't worth it, so vash is paired with wolfwood instead (yippee)
by the time they're like seventeen, they're nearly there. vash and wolfwood are at the same hurdle and their witch's soul is right before them, and where livio and knives succeed vash and wolfwood fail. knives does not take it well not so much because because they're not at the same spot but because over these years vash has been beaten and bested and he has lost and he is being torn to shreds in the name of creating a death scythe and nobody else seems all too concerned. it makes him think about the aftermath of vash's first failed witch's soul where vash literally lost his arm and about what he saw in the basement and knives can't accept the fact that he himself is a death scythe under the same organization responsible for that, that hasn't changed at all.
so he and legato disappear (yeah. he chooses to follow knives in this even now), and a number of death's marked targets for students or otherwise are neutralized by the time anyone associated with the DWMA arrives. he and vash don't see eachother for years after that (around canon times ehehehejweioww (to me canon is in 2004 to make it simpler))
actually chunk of the current timeline rq if ur curious (probably missing Something i have 2 fix the documents still)
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i'll elaborate about tessla when i flesh that part out more but for rn all u need 2 know is she was like a bad day and a prayer away from becoming a kishin and the DWMA kinda abandoned her OK? ok cool bye
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octuscle · 5 months ago
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Fatal shortcut
You know those days. The traffic is murder. You can't go another inch. Your destination is within reach, but it will take you three green lights and at least 20 minutes to cover the last 100 meters. Bloody hell! Honk the horn? It's no use… But now carefully pull onto the green lane, then cut across the high school parking lot and you're there. Why do you have your baby, the Mercedes G-Class, after all? I put on the turn signal, the car takes the sidewalk like nothing, carefully into the parking lot, look left and right and…… BANG! Damn it, the Mustang has clearly taken my right of way. This is guaranteed to take longer than 20 minutes… The two morons in the car look like they only have their heads to wear football helmets and pour beer through their mouths. The typical stereotypical football college jock bros. The day just keeps getting better…
"Yo, Chuck! Bro, did you see what that punk did there?" "Sure, Brad! He definitely took your right of way." I try to protest. But I'm way too caught off guard when the guy, who is obviously Chuck, stands up in front of me. God knows I'm not small. I'm a well-trained, muscular six foot two. But Chuck is easily ten centimetres and at least 20 kilograms taller than me… He grabs my balls. Damn it, I want to punch him, but Brad's already got me from behind. And Brad is barely smaller than Chuck. "There you go, you little faggot!" Chuck hisses at me. "Are you lying in wait for your wankers in the parking lot again? But this time is the last time!" He spits in my face and his grip on my balls tightens. Brad turns my head in his direction and spits again. Then the two of them get into their car, put it in reverse. And disappear.
I stand there a bit like an idiot. I'm far from being small or a faggot. And the last thing Chuck and Brad were to me were wank templates. I mean, I have nothing against gays… But thanks no, not for me… I'll take a look at the damage to the car. It's no big deal, the Mustang looked worse. I get back in the car, drive the last few meters into the underground car park, throw my keys to Stephen at reception and ask him to take the car to the garage. When I get off work later, I'd like to have it done. He puts his hand to his temple and says "Sir, aye, sir". Hehehe, I don't mind hierarchies being recognized.
"You little faggot"… I can't get that phrase out of my head. Shit, I'm really unfocused today. Maybe I just need a distraction. I go to the gym during my lunch break. Somehow I feel the need to look like anything but a faggot. I train bare-chested. Dressed only in compression shorts. Not really appreciated here. But I don't care today…
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Shit, I'm not in top form here either… What I normally lift without any problems is all too heavy for me today. At least it's the cross trainer… Even though I'm not really the cardio type. When I get in the shower, my cock gets hard. Shit, that's embarrassing. But I also have to say that there's really only premium meat running around here today. And I'm one of them. Definitely one of them. Even the clean-shaven guy in front sees it that way. Clear body language. It doesn't take long before I'm leaning against the shower wall. And for the first time in my life I get fucked… And how! I can hear the angels singing. It feels so good as the stallion cums in my ass. To say goodbye, he gives me a kiss and a pat on the ass. And he says loudly to one of his buddies. "What a waste for such a submissive pig to have such a magnificent cock!"
The fuck was great, but apart from that I'm really not myself today. I feel like I've been missing the last year. For the life of me, I can't remember a lot of things that happened. It's like I wasn't there. I'm glad when Stephen calls me at around 5 p.m. to tell me that my car is back. I thank him, pack up my things and go down to reception. Stephen grins at me almost insolently and says that this service is an exception and that he now has something good on me. Completely confused, I say, "I'm fine, dude" and take my car keys. But there is no black G-Class in my parking lot. There's a baby blue Mercedes SLK, in good shape, freshly polished. But it must be 15 years old. I press the key. The doors open. What the fuck?
I just want to get home, this day is a disaster. As I park the embarrassing car and walk past the concierge, Michael calls after me, "Hey, Johnny boy, can you give Mrs. Smith from 2316 a lift?" I turn red. I walk back to the concierge desk. "So what, my name is Jonathan, but it's actually Mr. Hays to you. And why would I stop on the 23rd floor when I live on the 38th. Besides, I don't know Mrs. Smith." Michael grins at me with his one-million-dollar smile. "Rough day, John, uh, Mr. Hays? You might as well ask the old lady if her drain is still acting up. And before you try to break into the wrong apartment, I understand you live in 2304." He hands me a package. I drive up to the 23rd floor. I give her the package. She asks if I can plug in the new coffee machine straight away. "Of course, mom," I say. I ask if her drain is working again. She says it would be nice if I could have another look. I ask if she has any rubber gloves. She nods. I pull the dirt out of the blocked drain. She slips me a dollar. I go to 2304, open the door. And drop onto the bed. It's right next to the door. 2304 used to be the room for the lady's maid from apartment 2312. On the one hand, I feel very much at home. But on the other hand, I should be somewhere else. Somewhere with a view of Central Park. With more space. I pull out my cell phone and start working my way through Grindr. Maybe I just need someone to take me really hard again today
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That was a night of really wild dreams. Really wild dreams. But obviously everything is fine now. I feel fit. My morning wood has never been better. I stroke my chest. Didn't it used to be hairy? I'm fantasizing again. What it would be like to be a real guy. Successful, at least 1.82 m. Well, I'm not going to grow any more. But maybe that's because of some Italian roots or something. That's where I got my hairy armpits and good beard growth. Shit, I'm still hard as nails. So routine like every morning: wank, jog, shower and then off to the office. I should be there at 07:00 so that the mail is distributed and the conference tables are all set before the Masters of the Universe arrive at the office. It's 07:05 when I walk in the door. Stephen grins and just says, "Subway?" "Don't ask, bro!" I reply, rolling my eyes. I didn't really need a bachelor's degree for my job. Jogging in the morning to stay in shape is more important. At the end of the day, I usually have 15K steps and 40 floors on my fitness tracker. And that's not usually the end of it. By the time I get home, Michael usually has a number of assistance activities for me. But hey, the address on the Upper Eastside sounds impressive, which I would never normally have been able to afford as a young professional. I'll even put up with the apartment on the first floor with a view of the backyard and the job as a temporary janitor.
Of course it's embarrassing to still live with my parents. But if I wanted to afford my own place, I'd probably have to move 200 miles away from Down Town. And I want to stay here. That's important to me. Also for financial reasons. The subway tickets alone would be too expensive if I had to travel further. I mean, the little bit of scholarship… And I don't earn much in the kitchen of the cafeteria. Stephen and Michael are good friends. If I didn't have them, I wouldn't make it. But they have good contacts. Stephen in the office, Michael at home. They always know someone who needs a massage with a happy ending. Or a greedy college boy face for a blowjob. The men are usually well-groomed. Too well-groomed, actually. That's why I always look forward to my part-time job as a trainer at the high school gym. If I'm lucky, I get to meet Brad and Chuck. I mean, they're not gay or anything. We never make eye contact. But I still get to blow them sometimes. Even though, of course, it's pathetic when you're a sophomore in college sucking high school seniors. But fuck, you won't find cheesier dicks with a more pronounced scent of musk and sweat anywhere!
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Yo, have I even dropped my name yet? It's Janusz, 19 years young and repping as an exchange student up in the Big Apple. Just call me Jonny, keep it chill. Hailing straight outta a tiny village near Krakow, Poland, in case that detail tickles your pickle. Still wrapping my head around this English gig… But let me tell ya, my French game is on point, or so the bros claim. Thrilled to be out of the parental crib and living it up in this wild city. Dang, the possibilities here are endless! Senior year vibes, you know what I'm saying? And now that I joined the wrestling squad, it's like BOOM! More close body action in a week than I got in a year with the 'rents around! Truth bomb: I make most of my cash tagging along with my wingmen Brad and Chuck, the school heartthrobs. I'm like their trusty sidekick. It's lit! Hoping to snag an athletic scholarship next year, fingers crossed. Sure, these two golden boys ain't wrestlers (legends in the bedroom, though), but football studs. It'd be epic if we could keep the bromance alive in college. Purely platonic, of course. Or not… 🤷‍♂️
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woso-dreamzzz · 10 months ago
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Reunion
Charli Grant x Reader
Summary: Your girlfriend moves to Spurs
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"You've got a spring in your step today," The media girl laughed as you came bounding into the reception area," What's up?"
"My girlfriend's joining today," You said with the widest smile you could muster on your face," Did you know? I'm so excited! Charli's amazing, you'll see!"
You bounced into the changing room with an extra pep in your step.
"What's up with you?" Grace asked as you got changed in record time and stood by the door, rocking back and forth impatiently.
"Charli's here today," You replied, not taking your eyes off the door.
"Didn't you see her earlier today?" Grace rolled her eyes in amusement. "I mean, aren't you guys living together?"
"We will be," You confirmed, still waiting by the door," But she crashed at Kyra's place last night. They were having a catch up. It's her first day anyway, it's fine to be excited."
"You're probably more excited than Charli is."
"Who's more excited than me?"
You leapt into your girlfriend's arms instantly. Her hands naturally curled around you, supporting your weight as she wandered over to her assigned cubby.
As she let you down, her lips followed you. Kisses were pressed all over your face as you helped her unbutton her shirt and pull on her new Spurs training top.
Grace whistled behind you both, a low sardonic note as she stared with raised brows. "Oh god," She muttered to Martha," Look at them. They're codependent!"
Your cry of," We're not codependent!" was somewhat dampened by the way that you helped Charli into each of her boots and then helped to tie her hair back.
"You look codependent."
"We're not codependent!" Both you and Charli exclaimed and you inwardly chuckled.
Oh yes, Charli would fit in well with your team.
You missed her a lot while she was in Sweden. You used to play there too which was where you met her. You'd been picked up by Vittsjö almost as soon as you'd left the Spurs academy at eighteen.
At the time, the Spurs team was stacked and they didn't need an inexperienced player like you. You'd received a few offers from teams that weren't in the WSL but when Vittsjö came knocking with more money than you had ever seen and guaranteed game time, you'd gotten on the first plane to Sweden you could find.
You'd been pretty settled in the team by the time that Charli joined, with her good looks and Aussie charm.
It hadn't taken a long time at all for you to couple up. You'd been moved in with each other within the week of your first date (a total cliche, you knew) and were sharing clothes within the hour.
Charli was practically your dream girl in everything she did or said and you were very happy to hang off her arm or be encased in a hug by her if it meant that you just got to soak in her attention just a brief moment longer.
It was the hardest moment of your life a year and a half ago making the move back to England. Spurs were your dream club though. They had been your aim for years now. It crushed you when they didn't want you after you finished your academy training but it was probably the best thing that happened to you.
It brought you Vittsjö and it brought you, more importantly, Charli.
You hadn't thought that Spurs was still watching you until you received the offer to play for them again. It felt like ripping your heart straight out of your chest when you read over the email with the contract.
It was Charli that convinced you to go. She had sat you down one night, listened to how you sobbed over the decision, agonising about leaving her but still wanting to return to England to play for Spurs.
She was the one that spurred on your decision.
She was the one who drove you to the airport and pressed one last lingering kiss to your lips.
It wasn't a goodbye.
Just a see you later.
You flew out to Sweden every chance you got. You curled yourself into Charli's arms whenever you could.
And, now that she was at your club, you could do it at any time you wanted.
Maybe Grace was right.
Maybe you were a tad codependent.
But, honestly, you would have it any other way.
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selfcarecap · 3 years ago
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First Date [s.r]
pairing: Steve Rogers x reader
summary: After months of flirting with each other, Steve finally asks you out on a date. But on the day that it’s finally happening, your nerves get the best of you.
warnings: none I think??, I mean overthinking and some awkwardness (the usual), no smut sadly? I guess I'd say kind of introverted!reader? idk how to put it
-this is a repost of an old fic- gif not mine
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*:・゚✧*:・゚✧
After months and months of flirting, Steve finally asks you out.
He wants you to know how special you are to him, so he books a table at an extra expensive restaurant.
Which means you have to dress all formally and act fancy for the date. And that’s not you.
The dress you picked out is suddenly too tight, you can barely breathe. It’s too long, you can’t even walk properly, and you don’t feel like yourself with the tight bun on top of your head.
You feel awful, your stomach churning, and you might faint if you actually go.
That’s also what you tell Steve via text. And once the text is sent it makes you feel even worse.
It’s only your first date and you’re already cancelling.
It’s not fair on Steve, it was his idea to go all out and invite you to go to the most expensive restaurant in town. He was so nice, tried so hard to make this night special.
But in that place you wouldn’t feel comfortable and these formal clothes that you ditch for sweatpants once you’ve sent the text don’t make you feel comfortable either.
What’s the point of going on a date when you feel bad before it even starts?
*:・゚
Steve redoes the tie around his neck for the third time. He’s looking at himself in the mirror, not missing the way Bucky and Sam are watching him, slightly amused.
“What?” Steve asks.
“Nothing,” Sam hides a laugh, “You want to redo the tie another time? You’ll break it by the time you leave if you touch it again,” he places his hands on Steve’s shoulder, attempting to relax him.
“Do I really look okay? Maybe I should have worn the grey suit instead,” Steve says, his fingers are still fiddling with his tie, and with the amount of strength he has he really does hear a seam rip which makes him finally leave it alone.
“Look at you,” that’s when Tony comes in, “Going to prom?” he jokes.
“Shut up,” Steve growls, but a few seconds later, he lets it get to his head, “Really? Would grey be better?”
Tony looks him up and down, “The suit I designed for you makes your ass pop way more, but even in this suit she’d be stupid not to drool all over you.”
(Steve asked you out while he was in his Captain America suit, he’d been told that women like it, and he wanted you to like him.)
A moment later, Steve gets a text message. He only recently got the phone, so he doesn’t react at first. It’s Tony who picks it up, reading what’s on the screen, “Looks like I was wrong.”
“What?” Steve asks, taking his phone from Tony. “Oh,” is all he manages.
Steve clears his throat when he feels a heavy lump forming there. Does he reply? He should text you to get well soon. He does that. What does he do now?
There’s an uncomfortable silence among the men. That’s until Tony slaps Steve’s back, “Hey, Cap. She doesn’t know what she’s missing. You’ve got ladies lining up to go on a date with you. I can guarantee you’d find another woman to go on a date with within the next five minutes.”
“But I wanted her,” Steve sighs.
“Don’t be so overdramatic,” Bucky says as Sam and Tony nod along. But then Steve shows them a picture of you, ”Okay you have every right to be overdramatic,” they all agree.
Steve just tuts, pulling off his tie.
“Hey,” Tony says, “You can still have another woman for one night, to cheer you up at least.”
“I’m not interested in one night stands and the women you’re talking about are only interested in Captain America, not me.”
It’s then that Nat rushes through the room.
“Friday night. Going out?” Tony asks.
“No I’m gonna see my girl-“ she stops before saying your name when she realises it was today that you and Steve were supposed to go on that date.
She’s the reason Steve even knows you - you’re a good friend of Nat.
“Can I come with you then? Is she feeling better already?” Steve lifts his head.
Right that second, Nat gets another text saying not to tell Steve she’s coming over.
And Nat, being the trained liar she is, without missing a beat says, “Steve - she’s throwing up. You haven’t even been on a date yet. I doubt you’re at a stage where she wants you to see her that miserable.”
“She’s throwing up now? Is it anything serious? She told me she has a headache.”
“I’m about to find out.” And before Steve can ask another question, Nat’s gone.
“You know that was a lie, right?” says Sam.
“I wish I didn’t,” Steve sighs, going to his room to crawl into his bed.
・゚✧
Nat comes over to your place for moral support. You tell her everything and she looks very annoyed.
“What? You think I should have gone on a date even when I felt uncomfortable before it even started?”
“No, but you could have been honest with him. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind going to a cheaper restaurant or ditching the suit. He was so stressed about his stupid tie all day. And then you cancelled and he looked like a kicked puppy.”
“Wait, really?”
“It’s not too late,” Nat passes you your phone, but you can’t do it. You can’t. And anyway, you and Steve are probably already set up for failure when you’ve been dishonest before you even had your first date.
But after a night and another day of contemplating, you follow Nat’s advice after all.
Steve picks up the phone before you can change your mind because you’re too nervous again.
・゚✧
Steve looks at his phone in surprise when he sees your name on the screen.
“Hi?” he says, not concealing his confusion. He thought you didn’t want him anymore.
“Hey, Steve. Um, are you free tonight?”
“Yeah, yeah I am. Are you feeling better yet?”
You dodge his question though, “Is right now okay too?”
“Sure, I’ll just go change and then I’ll be on my way.”
“Actually, just come as you are. I’m only wearing sweatpants too,” you say.
Steve changes out of his jeans and swaps them for beige sweatpants instead. He wants you two to be matching.
・゚✧
Steve’s at your door less than ten minutes later.
Taking a deep breath, you open the door. He looks so good, a white shirt under his jacket paired with beige sweatpants and a cap that he’s just taking off.
Maybe you should have let him change. Those sweatpants are distracting.
You realise you’re staring, but you’re unsure what to do. Shake hands, hug, a kiss on the cheek?
“Hi,” you breathe out.
“Hey, um.” He’s waiting for you to let him in. Right.
Calm down. You forgot how nervous he makes you.
“Come in,” you open the door, lifting your arm invitingly but also a bit awkwardly.
He looks around your small apartment, “Nice place,” he smiles.
“Thanks,” you feel your cheeks heating up, pulling the sleeves of your hoodie over your fingers, “I guess I’ll get straight to the point, I-- why are you smiling like that?”
“You look cute,” he says, looking down at your pink sweatpants and you remember your hoodie has cat ears on the hood.
Maybe you’re too nervous. He clearly still likes you. You tell him where to put his shoes and jacket, and sit down on your couch that suddenly feels a lot smaller with his broad body on it.
“So um,” you hesitate. You don’t want him to hate you. But if you and Steve started dating you wouldn’t want that to start with a lie, even if it was just a small one.
“I... I lied yesterday. I wasn’t sick I was just…,” you pause, looking right into his eyes, feeling shy again, “Look, I don’t want to seem ungrateful or anything but I kept picturing this expensive restaurant and then I was wearing these formal, tight clothes and I knew we’d have to pretend to be all stuck up in that posh restaurant and that just - that isn’t me, it’s not my type of thing.”
“Then what is your type of thing?”
“I don’t know..,” you shrug, “Having takeout, hanging out in comfortable clothes and talking, just alone. Without any rich people judging you because you don’t know how to eat lobster.”
He starts laughing, a full-on belly laugh, and you hit him with a pillow, “It’s not funny!”
“So I’m assuming that’s happened to you?”
“It has. I mean, how was I supposed to know? But yeah... I tried cutting it and it flew straight off my plate. Everyone was looking at me!” His laughter booms through the room and you can’t help but let out a few giggles too.
The laughter dies down after a few moments, and you know he’s not mad at you, but you still want to explain, “It’s just so much pressure being in a restaurant like that with those people and I was already so nervous and under pressure about going on a date with you--”
“What? Why?” he asks, smiling but his brows are scrunched together. Do you really have to explain to him how good he looks and how intimidating that can be?
You’re about to open your mouth to speak, but he shakes his head, “You know what, if you have more stories like that I’d love to hear them, maybe over some takeout?”
A smile spreads across your face, “Really?”
“Of course. I only booked that restaurant because I really like you,” - that is obvious, but you still feel a rush of excitement when he says it - “I wanted to impress you and make you feel special with that, but honestly, I want to get to know you, and it doesn’t matter where that is.”
“And you’re not mad at me for lying?”
“I appreciate that you told me the truth and didn’t shut me out after that, but I also want you to feel comfortable around me, you can always be honest with me.”
“Okay. I just want to get to know you too. Get to know you, Steve, just as you are. Just at home, on a normal day. Not in some fancy restaurant where we’re all tense,” you exchange grins that make you all fluttery, “So what should we get, Italian or Chinese maybe?”
・゚✧
For the rest of the night, not a single second is filled with silence, except when you both have to calm down from laughing so hard.
There’s an immediate feeling of trust between you two, and he tells you more about his past than you could’ve imagined finding out after months. In return, you tell him a lot of things too but stay on light-hearted topics for most of the evening.
Despite the personal things you both reveal about yourself, there’s always a relaxed atmosphere, and Steve makes sure to weave in some of the cheeky jokes and flirting that made you say yes to a date with him in the first place.
All the talking makes both of you tired after a few hours, so you spread out on the couch and turn on the tv for a bit, just talking a bit of nonsense now.
It’s getting late, and usually Steve would offer to go now, but with the way you’re gently tracing your finger up and down his arm, he can’t quite get himself to say it. Besides, not a single thing you’ve done or said in the last few hours has signalled that you want him to go and he’s not ready to go yet either, so you both lie there for another while.
He doesn’t quite hear what you’re saying right now because your face is half-squished on the blanket and you’re just mumbling, but he hears something that sounds a lot like “Sweet dreams”. Your eyes slowly drift shut but just a few seconds later they open again, your fingers searching for his and loosely intertwining them.
Your eyes remain open when you notice his eyes on you, and you fully turn towards Steve, your face close to his. Your heartbeat speeds up as you realise what’s about to happen.
With your eyes looking into his, Steve can’t resist pressing a kiss to your lips despite the awkward angle. His hand sneaks behind your head to lift you a little, so you can kiss him more comfortably. You make out for a few minutes, it’s gentle and slow and stops just before things get too heated.
For a while, you just hold hands, Steve’s thumb caressing the back of your hand until you feel tired and your heart is beating at a normal pace again. You smile at Steve, and you don’t see his much bigger grin before you’re lulled into a deep sleep.
Steve prefers this over a fancy dinner place any day.
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avatar-news · 4 years ago
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Avatar Studios masterpost!
Here’s absolutely everything there is to know about the big Avatar news from today’s ViacomCBS Paramount+ Streaming Event and investor day!
Summary of facts
Avatar Studios is a new studio at Nickelodeon. Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra co-creators and showrunners Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino are the co-Chief Creative Officers of Avatar Studios.
Avatar Studios will create original movies, series, and shorts set in the world of Avatar.
The first project is an animated theatrical film set to start production later this year.
One or more Avatar Studios Paramount+ Original Series will be among the 50 original shows coming to Paramount+ in its first two years.
The above image has been included in many articles and official social media posts. It’s presumably the current official logo of Avatar Studios.
That is a distilled list of the cold, hard facts from the whirlwind of news that has come out today, from many different sources. With that out of the way, the rest of this post will delve deeper into everything we’ve learned, including full-length quotes from the people involved.
Today’s event
Today, ViacomCBS (the company that owns Nickelodeon, and thus Avatar) held their “Streaming Event” and investor day. ViacomCBS is launching their big streaming service, Paramount+, on March 4th. It’s a rebrand and relaunch of their current streaming service, CBS All Access. Paramount+ is meant to be their big push to compete in the streaming wars with Disney’s Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+; WarnerMedia’s HBO Max; NBCUniversal’s Peacock; Apple’s Apple TV+; and, yes, Netflix’s Netflix by Netflix in collaboration with Netflix.
Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra are already on CBS All Access in full, and they, like all the rest of the content on the service, will automatically transfer over to Paramount+. (Currently we know absolutely nothing about when or if either show will leave Netflix. They’re currently on both Netflix and CBS All Access, so it’s possible they’ll remain on both Netflix and Paramount+ for some time.)
Here’s my livetweet thread from today’s event. Below, I’ll cover the notable stuff:
The first big mention of Avatar was when it was called out by the CEO as one of the ViacomCBS properties that were big hits on other streaming services last year.
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It’s notable that it was mentioned among a list of exclusively adult, live-action series.
This is totally in line with the earlier stuff where the CEO mentioned it as having potential for Paramount+ original content.
The presentation also included something along the lines of: if you helped make one of our properties popular on another streaming service, there’s a good chance originals will be coming to Paramount+.
Basically, they saw how huge Avatar was on Netflix last year, and that visibility was up to the highest levels of the company.
And of course, finally they announced the creation of Avatar Studios. This was actually a few minutes after the news went up officially online, so at that point I lost track of the stream as I covered the news. But, I do know they didn’t show/announce anything else in the event besides the news that went up online.
Official quotes/statements
Here are the official quotes about Avatar Studios sent out today:
Joint official statement from Bryke:
“It’s hard to believe it’s been 19 years since we created Avatar: The Last Airbender. But even after all that time, there are still many stories and time periods in Aang’s world that we are eager to bring to life. We are fortunate to have an ever-growing community of passionate fans that enjoys exploring the Avatarverse as much as we do. And with this new Avatar Studios venture we have an unparalleled opportunity to develop our franchise and its storytelling on a vast scale, in myriad exciting ways and mediums. We are exceedingly grateful to Brian Robbins and Ramsey Naito for their enthusiasm and respect for the Avatar property and us as its stewards. From the start, they’ve supported our ambitious plans and created a positive, proactive environment for us. We’re excited to be back at Nickelodeon where Avatar began, doing what we do best in the biggest way possible. We can’t wait to build the great teams and productions to make all of this fantasy a reality.”
via Entertainment Weekly
Bryan on his Instagram and Tumblr:
“Bryke is back at Nickelodeon in a big way. ⚡️💙⬇️💙⚡️ Mike and I are heading up a new studio dedicated to expanding the Avatarverse.”
Mike on his Instagram:
“BIG announcement! @bryankonietzko and I are returning to #Nickelodeon as co-chief creative officers of Avatar Studios to develop new animated projects in the #avatarverse and oversee the franchise. Couldn't be more excited and inspired!”
Brian Robbins:
“Avatar: The Last Airbender and Korra have grown at least ten-fold in popularity since their original hit runs on Nickelodeon, and Ramsey Naito and I are incredibly excited to have Mike and Bryan’s genius talent on board to helm a studio devoted to expanding their characters and world into new content and formats for fans everywhere. Creator-driven stories and characters have long been the hallmarks of Nickelodeon, and Avatar Studios is a way to give Mike and Bryan the resources and runway to open up their imaginations even more and dive deeper into the action and mythology of Avatar as we simultaneously expand upon that world and the world of content available on Paramount+ and Nickelodeon.”
via Deadline
Brian Robbins was referred to as the president of Nickelodeon on Entertainment Weekly, and “President, ViacomCBS Kids & Family” on Deadline. Ramsey Naito is the president of Nickelodeon Animation.
Press release
The post-event ViacomCBS press release mentioned Avatar in two places:
First, right up at the top:
“Over 50 original series to premiere on Paramount+ over next two years, including Halo, Frasier, Criminal Minds, iCarly, The Real World, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, shows from the Avatar, Yellowstone, Star Trek and SpongeBob SquarePants universes and more”
The wording makes it unclear if it will be multiple shows from each of the final four franchises mentioned, or if it’s plural because it’s listing multiple franchises. It’s talking about the first two years specifically, so it’s likely that in that timeframe only one Avatar show would be ready, but in general it’s basically guaranteed that there will be multiple in the coming years.
The second place it’s mentioned is in the “Expansive Slate of Upcoming Paramount+ Original Series” - “Kids & Family” section:
“Avatar – Nickelodeon’s new animation studio division dedicated entirely to creating content based on the wildly popular world of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. Led by the series’ original creators Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, in partnership with the Nickelodeon Animation Studio, Avatar Studios will produce for Paramount+ a wide-range of Avatar-inspired content, ranging from spinoffs and theatricals to short form.”
Info from news
Across the many news sources today (sites, social media, etc.) this info has sort of coalesced:
What is Avatar Studios?
It has been referred to as a studio, a venture, a division of Nickelodeon, an animation studio division, etc. etc. etc.
As far as we know, it’s not an animation production studio and so doesn’t employ animators who draw the frames of animation themselves.
What does Avatar Studios make?
The various sources have said they’re making series, movies, and short-form stuff. The first two are pretty self-explanatory. The third, shorts, remains to be seen what it is. I could honestly see official TikTok videos or something, but that’s just my speculation. 😂
Right now it has been said that Avatar Studios will be making Avatar stuff only. Various wordings like “based on” and “Avatar-inspired” and “in the Avatarverse” have been used.
The question of live-action has arisen. Some places, including Mike’s post, specifically say animation, while Bryke’s official statement also says “myriad [...] mediums”. It’s highly likely there will be both animation and live-action at some point. Currently it’s probably animation-focused, with the first project being an animated movie.
Where will Avatar Studios content come out?
Another case where there have been various wordings used throughout the different news sources.
It has been said that Avatar Studios’ content will be made for Paramount+, Nickelodeon’s “linear” (meaning old-fashioned live TV) and digital outlets, third parties, and theaters.
Paramount+ is self-explanatory, that would be Paramount+ Originals streaming exclusively on Paramount+.
Nickelodeon complicates things a bit. I find it a little hard to believe that within a few years, new Avatar shows specifically for Nick’s TV channel will start being made. It’s possible statements to this effect are indicating the content will also end up aired on TV. ViacomCBS’s Star Trek universe’s first Nick show will be taking that route: first on Paramount+ and then later airing on TV on Nick, so I’m guessing something similar could be the case here. As for Nick’s digital side, they have episodes to watch on their website and apps, so I’m guessing that’s what that refers to-- I wouldn’t read into it too much. Nick itself is one of the sections on Paramount+, which also just makes my head spin a bit more.
Mention of third parties is also a little weird at first. ViacomCBS does double-dip a lot, so maybe Avatar Studios will also end up making shows for, like, Netflix and others, but it just seems like a weird business decision when they just announced Paramount+. One thing this could be referring to is potentially other mediums like books and games, for which it would make sense to be for other companies.
Lastly, theatrical. In their movies strategy, ViacomCBS announced that Paramount movies like the Mission: Impossible franchise will still be in theaters, but go to Paramount+ exclusively after a reduced 30-to-45-day theatrical window. (Some movies will also have the regular window, also a little confusing.) Some movies will also just be Paramount+ Originals in the first place, like the newest SpongeBob movie. Avatar Studios’ first project has been exclusively called a theatrical animated film. This seems to suggest that it will be in theaters at first, then a Paramount+ Original shortly after (probably the shortest, 30-day window if I were to guess). This is interesting because if it’s theatrical, that could suggest a big budget, especially if this is their first project they intend to make an impressive splash with. It could also potentially suggest 3D/CGI animation rather than 2D, but I personally don’t find that super likely. However, it could mean fancier 2D animation than we’re used to, and that’s saying a lot because we’re used to some pretty good animation from the Avatar franchise! The wording of “theatricals” could also just be used as a synonym for “films”, to indicate prestige, theatrical release quality and budget rather than made-for-TV or direct-to-DVD vibes.
In summary, it seems like right now, they’re covering all the bases, but if Paramount+ is as successful as they want it to be, it’s likely they would eventually (maybe quite soon) move more and more stuff into it exclusively. Currently, there’s also still a lot of uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and so the new state of the theatrical, linear, and streaming marketplaces hasn’t really crystallized yet either. The world does seem to be moving to streaming quite hard though, so while they’re covering all the bases right now, again, it’s likely most of this stuff will end up mainly as a Paramount+ thing.
And again, I mentioned TikTok as a possible experimental place for short-form content. Maybe. Especially if they make the next Avatar after Korra modern day?! Ok, let me not get ahead of myself...
Who will work at Avatar Studios?
We only know about Bryke so far. They’re the co-Chief Creative Officers.
Brandon Hoang, who was working with Bryke on live-action ATLA at Netflix, has confirmed he’s not involved. He also left Netflix at some point; not sure if it was at the exact same time or for the same reasons as Bryke, but he’s neither here nor there, as it were.
No, I don’t have anything to tell you about Jeremy Zuckerman. :)
Given that there will be multiple shows and movies, it’s likely that lots of different people will end up working on them. Bryke’s official statement said that they will “build [...] teams and productions” at Avatar Studios, and Mike also said that they will be “oversee[ing] the franchise”. Right now, we don’t know what exact role Bryke will have. They might write/direct/showrun some stuff themselves, or they might oversee other creatives they hire for those roles, or, likely, both-- different levels of involvement for different shows and movies.
As mentioned previously, Avatar Studios (probably) isn’t an animation production studio. This means they will still hire animation production studios, like Studio Mir, to do the animation itself. I say “like” Studio Mir, because I’m not sure if Studio Mir itself is free right now. They recently officially partnered with Netflix and have plenty of things on their plate there. So, it remains to be seen who will be doing the actual animation for Avatar Studios’ projects.
Lastly, this is an awesome opportunity to have the “culturally appropriate, non-whitewashed cast” assurance Bryke originally made for live-action ATLA both on and off the screen at Avatar Studios!
Netflix and live-action ATLA
There has been no news or updates on the live-action adaptation of ATLA being developed at Netflix, which Bryke was originally showrunning but left (to do all this!) over creative differences.
No, it’s not cancelled.
I suppose this makes it a little more likely that Netflix would choose to give up on it, but right now there have been no changes. The existence of Avatar Studios almost definitely has no effect on the licensing rights Netflix obtained to make a live-action ATLA adaptation-- that stuff is usually pretty iron-clad. Again, maybe in light of all this Netflix will choose to not go through with it, but they also might want to make it even more now to compete with Paramount+ on Avatar. We don’t really know the stances of the decisionmakers at Netflix, so we’ll have to wait and see.
Personal note
Over the last few months I’ve gotten a lot of, err, rude comments and messages whenever I said there could be new stuff coming. I’m really not here to say “I told you so”, because I don’t care-- I run Avatar News for fun.
But, I hope this goes to show that I wouldn't be posting things if I didn't have good factual reason to believe them, and that very much panned out very correctly here. Sometimes it’s directly or indirectly based on stuff I can't say publicly. I always have and always will post in a trustworthy, fact- and reason-based manner.
In light of that, and for just a bit of “I told you so”, here’s a timeline of all the Avatar News posts that led up to today. Definitely had a lot of fun re-reading these just now:
August 12th, 2020: Bryke left the Netflix live-action ATLA series two months ago. It’s not the end of the world.
September 15th, 2020: ViacomCBS is relaunching their streaming service next year as Paramount+, the future home of Avatar shows and movies?
September 17th, 2020: Anonymous asked: Do you think now that the original creators left the live action remake that they will make a new avatar animated series?
November 6th, 2020: CEO says Avatar franchise has potential for new original series on Paramount+, the new streaming service launching next year to compete with Netflix, Disney+, and HBO Max
January 4th, 2021: “This also brings up another interesting point, which is that Bryke actually originally pitched this storyline to Nick as an animated movie after the show. That obviously didn’t happen, but now that Paramount+ is coming and teasing potential new Avatar content…”
January 5th, 2021: Investor day announcement
January 21st, 2021: The Fire Nation Awaits 🌺 An in-depth look at the ever-elusive islands in the era of Korra and when we will finally pay them a visit. See section: Are they saving the Fire Nation for an animated movie?
February 12th, 2021: All seven seasons of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra are coming to Paramount+ on March 4th!
February 20th, 2021: The musical themes of Avatar: An Avatar News interview with Jeremy Zuckerman. See section: “So, another streaming service: Paramount+.”
February 24th, 2021: Avatar Studios masterpost :)
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illfoandillfie · 3 years ago
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Kinktober Day 4: Bimbofication + Cockwarming
Kinktober Masterlist | Regular Masterlist
Pairing: Roger Taylor x Fem!Reader
Words: 3,164
Warnings: Bimbofication/intelligence play, hypnosis/trance state, cockwarming
A/N: This fic is very much set in my Future Management universe though I think you could get away with not having read the others. I’ve missed writing these two tbh and then I saw that one of the prompts for day 4 was bimbofication and decided it was a good enough excuse to get back to them. But I also really loved the second prompt for day 4, cockwarming, so decided to mix the two together!
After the long week you’d both been dealing with, you and Roger were glad to have a weekend to yourselves to relax. You’d spent too many nights out at various political functions, lobbying politicians and trying to convince the wealthy elite to donate to your cause. It was frustrating though and despite the numerous late nights and all your best efforts, it didn’t feel like you’d got particularly far. Roger had returned to the studio that week to begin recording Queen’s next album, so he was having a better time than you had been, though by all accounts everyone had been a little on edge as the week drew to a close. He’d come home complaining about how snippy everyone had been and how little progress they’d made that day. It was nice just to curl up on the couch together and zone out in front of the telly, not least because recently you’d barely found time to just be together without interruptions. It wasn’t a problem exactly, and you’d known you’d have patches like that when you first started seeing each other, but the lack of intimacy and physical affection created by your busy schedules did take its toll. So, on Friday night, Roger took great joy in turning off the alarm clock, deciding you could both use a lie in. You were too exhausted to even suggest anything more than talking before you went to sleep, but Roger made sure he was spooning you as you settled down, holding you tight.  
Roger was still asleep as you woke, carefully detangling yourself so you could tiptoe to the bathroom, but he offered you a sleepy grin when you came back.   “Sorry, did I wake you?” “Maybe a little. Thought we were going to lie in.” He pouted at you as if you’d betrayed him.   “I had to pee!” you laughed, “But I’m all for lying in now.”   Roger chuckled along with you as he beckoned you over, encouraging you to lay your head on his chest as you snuggled back up. His hand found yours, softly tracing the length of your fingers as he sighed happily.   “I missed this,” he half whispered, pulling your hand up so he could kiss your knuckles.   You hummed in agreement. For someone who’d not been in the habit of sharing your bed or encouraging physical contact, you’d certainly gotten used to Roger’s touch. He’d thoroughly converted you as the relationship became more serious, made you see how nice it was to be held, how comforting his hand in yours could be. And you had missed it over the last week when there’d not seemed to be enough time for those soft, quiet moments with him. You’d sat next to uninterested politicians who nodded politely at what you said but never offered anything useful, and thought about how nice it’d be to feel Roger kiss your temple or squeeze your thigh. And then your mind had taken it further, reminding you how warm you got when his weight was over you, how it felt to fill your lungs with his breath and to taste him on your lips. You shifted at the idea and realised you weren’t the only one who wanted more than just to relax. Scooting away from Roger so you could better face him, you began to suggest you could maybe slip down under the covers and help him get properly excited, but before you got more than a few syllables out he was talking about a different idea.  “So, I’ve been thinking about something I thought might be fun to try with my bimbo doll.”  “Oh?” You weren’t entirely sure how you felt about that. On one hand you loved when Roger turned you brainless and cock-crazed, how fun it was and how freeing. But this was the first time you’d really been able to be together in a little while. What did it say about the state of your relationship or his opinion of you, if he’d prefer your bimbo alter ego over the real you, “You want her?”  “Not necessarily right now,” he said, rubbing his knuckles softly against your cheek, “Not if you don’t want to. I’m happy staying like this with you all day.”  “Don’t pretend you don’t want to fuck. I want to fuck.”  Roger laughed, “Oh I definitely want to fuck. I’m just saying I’d be perfectly happy fucking beautiful, brainy, you, instead of the slutty idiot.”  You couldn’t help but smile at that.  “But it’s something I’ve thought about quite a lot. And I think it’d be kind of perfect for such a lazy morning.”  “Okay.” you said, thinking about it more, “I’m not entirely opposed to the whole bimbo thing. It might actually be nice to be a bit brainless, maybe even make it a bit easier to relax. Y’know, sort of keep me focused on enjoying the moment and really feeling everything. So why don’t you just tell me what the idea is and then I’ll know how up for it I am right now.”  “Hmmm. I thought maybe it could be a surprise. But don’t worry, it’s something we’ve done before. I’m just curious how she’d react to being made to do it.”  “Being made to?” you asked, raising your eyebrows in disbelief, “Is this something I like?”  “Oh yeah, definitely. Believe me, we’ve done this a few times before. Usually, it’s less part of sex and more to do with the aftercare or the foreplay.”  You tried to think of what he meant but nothing came to mind that fit the description. It was intriguing though. And you trusted Roger, you knew he wouldn’t take advantage or force you to do something you wouldn't normally do. If he said you enjoyed it then you must enjoy it usually.  Roger waited to see how you’d react.  “Nothing to lose?”  “Nothing to lose.” He said with a smile, “I promise it’ll be fun, love.”  “Okay, let’s do it. I’m insanely curious. But also, sometime later today or tonight, we’re going to have regular, non-bimbo, sex.”  “Anything you want. You ready?” 
You nodded and instantly felt Roger draw you back down so you were within easier reach. His fingers trailed lightly over your arms as he began to talk you down. You relaxed into the moment, letting his voice wash over you as his touch created goosebumps over your skin. As you closed your eyes your breathing began to soften and you felt the familiar drowsiness settle into your mind. Roger did his usual improvisation, making sure you knew how dumb you were, how easily confused and hopelessly idiodic you were. He made you understand that you couldn’t understand half of what he said, that you were just a giggly dummy who needed his help. And then, when he was sure you had gone brainless, he told you how horny you were. How all you could think about was his cock in every one of your holes, how desperately you ached for him, how being filled by him was your one goal in life. The only thing you needed or wanted. And how the longer you waited the hornier you got. He told you about being desperate and wet and you felt yourself grow desperate and wet as he said it though you couldn’t remember the word desperate. You tried you but just came up blank. The only world you could think of was cock. It flashed in your mind like a neon sign and just the thought of that word alone made your mouth water and you cunt ache.  You shifted, trying to rub your legs together, able to feel the slick forming between them as your stomach tightened with need. And then he told you one word, a simple word. No. He explained that every time he told you no, it was guaranteed to compound the horny desperation you felt.   “What’s co-com- ummm, com-pound?” You asked, confusedly.   “It means the feeling will get stronger. When I say no, you’ll get even hornier. Understand?”  “Yes,” you sighed, content now that he’d explained the hard word.  
By the time you blinked your eyes open, all you knew was that you wanted his cock. It was your very first thought and the first thing you said.   Roger looked at you, smiling, and greeted you. A pleasant, “Hi,” that made you feel warm and happy.  You’d smiled back, “Can I please have your cock Sir?”  That made Roger laugh, “No baby. That’s now what I want to do right now.”  Hearing him say that just made you want it more though.  “Please Sir? I could suck it for you. I really really really want to suck your cock.”  “No, I don’t think I want that either.”  You whined softly, “I promise I’m reallllllly good at it and I love sucking cock so much.”  “No. What else could you do instead?”  “Ummm,” it was hard to think, hard to remember anything beyond how horny you were, “Maybe I could ride you?”  “Hmmm, no.”  You groaned and clenched your hands into fists for a second as a bolt of energy ran through you, “Can I wank you?”  “No, baby, not that either.”  “Please Sir?”  “No.”  The bolt of energy ran through you again and you stomped your foot against the mattress to relieve some of the pressure.   “Keep suggesting things,” Roger grinned, “Maybe one of them might interest me.”  You scrunched your face up in concentration, trying to think of something Roger might like, “What about if you fucked me? I’d be so good and I’d stay so still and you could use my pussy and cum in me and-”  “No. No I don’t want that either.”  “But Siiiiiiir,” you whined, “You always tell me to take your cock!”  “Do I?”  “Yes!” you giggled, wondering how he could have forgotten, “You always say how good it feels in me.”  “I s’pose that’s true.”  “So can I have your cock now?”  “No.”  You whined and pouted but Roger didn’t budge.  “I’ll tell you what. Let’s start with taking your clothes off.”  “Okay Sir.” you nodded, giggling again at the idea, hoping it would lead to having one of your holes filled.  “Well go on then. Shirt off first, good girl.”  You rolled yourself off the bed and quickly began tearing off the pyjamas you were wearing, feeling hot as Roger’s gaze dragged over the newly exposed skin.   “Now undress me.”  You couldn't help but laugh as you crawled across the bed to reach him. He’d slept without a shirt so all you had to worry about were his flannel PJ pants and underwear pulling them down his legs one at a time. As his underwear came down your eyes fell to his cock, revealed inch by inch. You felt saliva pool in your mouth and had to resist the urge to lean forward and taste him.  “Can I touch you Sir?” you asked quietly, almost holding your breath as you waited for his answer.  “No.”  “Please?” you asked again, frustrated. Roger didn’t understand how bad you wanted it, how much you needed him. “I’ll do anything Sir, whatever you want.”  “No.”  With an impatient groan you threw yourself onto your stomach, beating your fists and feet against the mattress. It was the only way to relieve the energy and pressure building inside you.  But Roger just laughed, “Awww, is Dummy gonna have a tantrum? That’s not going to change my mind. My answer is still no.”  You whined and kicked your legs again, your pussy throbbing with how empty it was.  “You’re such a desperate slut, aren’t you Dummy.” Roger laughed again, “So maybe....”  You looked up excited and hopeful.  “I might decide to fuck you. Pin you down, fill you hard and deep and cum in you as many times as I can manage. Just to shut your whining up.”  You scrambled back to your knees and nodded happily, reaching to wrap your hand around Roger’s cock.  He slapped you away, “I said might, Dummy. That’s still a no. You’ll have to show me you deserve it. You’ll have to be a good bimbo doll and do everything I say. Can you do that?”  You whined but agreed you could. He didn’t need to make you promise to follow his orders. You’d have done that anyway. You’d have done anything he asked, anything to make him feel happy and pleased. 
“Sit up, hands behind your back. Show me your cunt.”  You scrambled to do as he asked, smiling proudly when he hummed at the sight of your spread legs and wrapped his fist around the base of his cock.  “You’re so wet Dummy. How’d that happen?”  You giggled again, “I told you I want you Sir.”  “Guess I didn’t realise how much,”  Your gaze fell to his hand and your breath caught as you watched him slowly stroke his length, stiffening more the longer your eyes were fixed on him. It just made everything worse. You couldn’t seem to drag your eyes away, nearly panting with desire. Wanting to touch yourself almost as much as you wanted to touch him.  “Oh you are desperate. I can see your cunt clenching around thin air and you’ve got drool on your chin. You don’t even care which hole I use.”  You shook your head. Whatever he wanted would make you happy because it’d make him happy.  “I could keep telling you no.”  A whimper slipped from your lips and you felt your pussy pulse with need.  “But maybe I’ll be generous. Lie down here, next to me. Good girl, now turn onto your side. No, other side, facing away from me. That’s right.”  “What are you doing Sir?” you asked over the creaking of the bed frame as Roger shifted around behind you. He didn’t answer though, just pressed himself against your back. You could feel his hard length being directed to your slit and you changed the position of your legs to make it easier for him.   “Good girl,” he said softly, his breath warm against your bare skin.  You moaned at the feeling of him moving between your legs, waiting for the sweet stretch of him filling you. Only it didn’t come. You could feel him between your lips, sliding easily through your soaked folds, every ridge and vein making you shudder. You tried to press back, to direct him into you, but his hand landed on your hip, forcing you to still.  “No.”  The word pulled another whine from you, louder than any before, exacerbated by how close he was to what you really wanted. But that just made Roger chuckle as he kept teasing you. It was pure torment, though worse was still to come.  
It took you completely by surprise when Roger stopped his teasing rubbing, readjusting his angle so he could sink into you slowly. The unexpectedness of it stole your breath but you managed to gasp out a small moan of thanks, finally getting what you’d been so desperate for. The position you lay in kept your bodies close as he sheathed himself fully, rocking his hips gently so as to withdraw a little and thrust back into you. You could have cried with joy at knowing you’d pleased your Sir, that you’d been so good and patient, and he’d finally decided to take what you’d offered him. And then he stopped. You tried to take over his rhythm, tried to fuck yourself on his cock the way you knew he liked. Last time you’d done that he’d praised you for being brainless and needy, called you a good bimbo whore and you’d kept going until he’d cum, laughing about how good it felt. But this time he stopped you. He pressed his hips flush against you and wrapped his arm tightly over the top of you.   “No, Dummy. No moving now.”  “But Sir,”  “No. Be good and lie still or I will make you,” He tapped the middle of your forehead with a finger, “Remember I have all the power.”  You didn’t know what he meant by that or why he’d tapped you but you knew how to be good. You knew how to please. And so you relaxed again and lay quiet and still, the way he wanted you.  “It’s still a little early for me to use you. I think I want to sleep a bit longer, so why don’t you stay here and warm my cock for me. It’ll keep me comfortable so I can sleep longer. And then when I’m better rested I’ll think about fucking you.”  You whined again, wanting to thrash your arms and legs again but unable to, wanting to be pinned down by your Sir and used, wanting to feel him move within you or to taste his cum or anything. But if that was what he wanted that was what you’d do, so you nodded and agreed softly.   Roger hummed happily which was all you needed to hear to feel happy too. He let out a tired exhale and seemed to still. You listened as his breath evened out into a shallow rhythm, and struggled to keep relaxed in his embrace. As far as you could tell he was asleep, though his hand seemed to come to life. His fingertips trailed over your skin, coming to rest on your chest. You tried to remain quiet but struggled not to moan as his hand cupped your breast and squeezed it. In response he moved slightly, though still slept on, his cock changing angle within you by a hair's breadth. In your state of heightened arousal it was enough to have you clenching again, trying not to wake Roger in case he got mad.  
There was a soft laugh from behind you and Roger mumbled, “C’mon Dummy, you should sleep too.” And then he kept talking, telling you how you’d still be horny when you woke but you’d have control of your brain again, you’d be back to his beautiful, intelligent partner. It sounded like nonsense (what did intelligent even mean?) but something about the way he spoke made your eyes droop and close. There was a small tap on your forehead and you awoke, disorientated by being brought back to the real world so soon.  “How do you feel, love?”  Roger asked and you twisted in his arms to try and see him better. You were pleased when you heard him groan at the change in your position.   “You’re a fucking tease Roger Taylor.” you half laughed, trying to sound less amused than you were.  He laughed too, clearly pleased with his little game, as he released you and withdrew his cock from your heat, “I told you you’d like it.”  You pushed yourself up to be more comfortable, “I don’t know that like is the word I’d use. All I feel is horny. Insanely so.”  “Do you want that fuck now?”  He was still laughing when you tackled him. 
Taglist: @labessieisallama @deakyclicks @jennyggggrrr @drowseoftaylor @hannafuckingsucks @i-cant-hangout-im-drumming @queenmylovely @ilovequeenmorethanyou @johndeaconshands @borhapbois @stardust-galaxies @cherries-n-rocknroll @rogersslave @scorpiogemini
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nat-20s · 3 years ago
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 Part 8 of the wonderful! Au: the boys answer some questions! Up to you to decide if they actually clarify anything!
(also on AO3)
~*~
Martin: Hey everyone! I know what some of you are thinking right now: it's not Tuesday, why is this episode in my feed? I know significantly more of you are thinking: I don't consistently keep up with podcast releases, how much free time do you think I have, buddy? To answer your queries: this is a bonus episode! We're answering listener questions to clear the air and/or have fun. Also, I don't know, around 20 to 40 minutes a week, as that is the average amount of time per episode? Maybe during your commute? My husband's omnipotence has been gone for five years, we just have to guess at that sort of thing now.
Jon: For legal reasons, that last statement was a joke. In fact, to cover all of our bases, we do not guarantee that any of our responses are genuine.
Martin: Just because we say we'll answer things doesn't mean we'll answer truthfully. Though, honestly, I think we might make it more enjoyable if we do tell the truth. Like, I don't necessarily have a fun lie prepared for our first question from konspiracyking97: "What's their fuckin deal anyway?"
Jon: Is this referring to the oblique references  we've made about being from a parallel reality and only ending up here as a consequence of ending one apocalypse and potentially starting another or the general premise of the show?
Martin: Oh, it's gotta be general premise, yeah?
Jon: In that case, I'm Jon, the other voice you're hearing is Martin, we're married, and we talk about things that are..nice? Good? Usually generally but occasionally rather specifically pleasant.
Martin: That pretty much covers it. It's not a complicated show. Uhh, next question comes from Shane: are either or both of you aliens? Nope!
Jon: Well..
Martin: No. We are 100% human people from Earth, we are under no definition extraterrestrial.
Jon: Eh..
Martin: Okay, first off, I know the tone of that 'eh' and "not fully human" is not synonymous with alien, so even if 100% is being a bit generous, we're still from the same planet as our listeners.
Jon:..
Jon: But. We sort of aren't though. Technically speaking.
Martin: No no no no no. I don't care if it's parallel, Earth is Earth is Earth, regardless of whatever nonsense metaphysics might be occurring.
Jon: So what you're saying is that if you got sucked through a portal and landed on an Earth where dinosaurs were still the predominant species, you wouldn't consider yourself to be an alien?
Martin: Nope!
Jon: I'm certain that they would consider you an alien. All of their mammals are probably shrew sized.
Martin: Sounds like a them problem.
Jon: Sounds like a-?! You know what, no, this will be an off the record debate, for now, I suppose I concede that the two Earths and our physiologies are similar enough that we might, maybe, not count as aliens.
Martin: Thank you. Anyway, our next question is from anonymous, and asks, "Is all of this an ARG?"
Jon: A whomst?
Martin: Alternate reality game. It's a method of storytelling that's interactive with audience, and usually has, I dunno, a certain suspension of disbelief to it where it pretends to be something actually happening in the real world until a dramatic reveal. A lot times it was used as a marketing gimmick, but others have done it just for fun. I can show you some examples after the show?
Jon: So it's in essence a more involved creepypasta?
Martin, delighted: Aw, babe, I'm never going to have a handle on what pop culture you are and aren't aware of, huh?
Jon: We were born within a year of each other, and I've told you that I was a deeply morbid teenager, you should probably be able to intuit some of things, love.
Martin: This coming from a man who has yet to see "It's a Wonderful Life", but has seen every film in the "Banjo Cannibals" franchise, including the Easter special. Jesus doesn't exist in the Banjo Cannibals universe, why does it have an Easter special?
Jon: The movies are rather shoddily translated from Russian, so I'm fairly certain the Easter component of that special was invented wholesale in the English version.
Martin: You say that like it answers more questions than it raises.
Jon: Yes, because it does. Oh, and to answer anonymous's question, no, this isn't an ARG. From my understanding of it, if it were, it'd be a poorly constructed one, as there's no real game element to any of this.
Martin: Hmm. Well, sometimes the game component is just trying to figure out what's going on with the story, or if there's any deeper content, and people are definitely doing that with this show.
Jon: That's not by design though. It's more a side effect of us having poor brain to mouth filters, I'd say.
Martin: Harsh, but fair. Oh, this next one is from Zac, no K, who asks, "Are you two actually even married?"
Jon, flat: We are, but it's under false names because this whole thing is an elaborate insurance scam.
Jon, incredulous: Yes, obviously, we're married. What did you hear in this podcast that would make you wonder otherwise, and how do we rectify it?
Martin: Clearly we need to up our quota for how "disgustingly in love" and "horrifically sappy" we are per episode. Which segues nicely into the next question from Gwen, "What's your favourite wonderful thing you've brought so far?" My answer: my husband. He's kind of my favourite in most things, you know?
Jon: Boooooo
Martin: Why, what's your favourite thing?
[Jon reluctantly sighs]
Jon, indulgent: being married.
Martin: A: serves you right for trying to pretend you're the less horrifically sappy and romantic one even though earlier today someone put a love note in the lunch they packed for me-
Jon:- Lies and slander! I have never, in my life, done that, even once.
Martin: Oh, sure, not even once. And you definitely don't reserve the lilac sticky notes specifically for my lunches because you know I like the colour. 
Jon: I..I don't.. you're rather ruining my image here.
[Martin snorts]
Martin: Can't have the audience think that you are, on occasion, an incredibly doting husband-
Jon: -A title I would argue we both share-
Martin: - which is obviously why, even with it being your favourite thing you've brought, being married to me is just a small wonder-
Jon, audibly rolling his eyes: As I already explained-
[A Pause}
Jon: Actually, you're right-
Martin: Wait-
Jon:- I really should have brought it as a larger wonder-
Martin: Wait-
Jon: though I should warn you, I think I'd have far too much material for just one little segment-
Martin: No no no no no-
Jon:- In fact, I think I might have too much material for just one little episode-
Martin: Joo-oon-
Jon: I might have to do a whole series! Where would I even start? I mean I could talk about how every day I get to watch the early morning sun highlight your curls when I get up first, or hear you quietly humming and shuffling around the kitchen when you do, or I could talk about how the lunch notes only started in the first place as retaliation to the notes you would leave on the mirror for me to find, or how every time I get to see you at ease in a way that you aren't with anyone else, it takes my breath away, or I could talk about how cute I find the lines between your eyebrows that you only get when you're thinking something petty, but you know it's petty so you don't want to say anything-
Martin: Okay, okay, Christ, I give !up I surrender, and will cease my teasing on this particular topic.
Jon, probably making the :3 face: You don't have to stop. I mean, I could also discuss how very, very attractive I find your voice when it takes on a teasi-mmph!
[There's a pleased hum, then a pause.]
[The audio quality is slightly changed, as if the recording has been stopped and then started later]
Martin, giddy: Uh, heh, anyway, Eric asked what the least favourite thing we've brought was, and because of Jon's attempt to embarrass me live-
Jon, overlapping: It's definitely not live-
Martin:- on air, I'm gonna say it's my husband.
[Jon scoffs]
Jon : If the past few minutes are any sort of indication, I'm going to go ahead and saying that you are lying.
Martin, sighing contentedly: Maybe a bit, but how was I supposed to resist when your indigance gives you that adorable little nose scrunch? In reality, my least favourite thing was probably, um, mini golf? Which, I still don't think is inherently bad, definitely superior to regular golf, but when it's the only thing a next door two year old wants to do with you, the charm begins to wear off a bit.
Jon: Wow. A rather scathing review of a toddler.
Martin: Not so much a scathing review of a toddler as it's a scathing review of minigolf's inability to keep its appeal after the third time in the same week.
Jon: Mmm, the sound effects rather quickly go from part of the atmosphere to part of the irritation, don't they?
Martin: So what's your least favorite thing we've covered here?
Jon: Oh, love, I'm not going to pretend to have nearly enough memory of what we've covered so far to have a least favorite.
Martin: Really? Nothing that you regret or rescind?
Jon: Well, regret, certainly. It was one of the weeks where you went first, and your second item was mutual aid funds, and what they can do for marginalized communities, and I had to follow it with fucking Slapchop.
Martin, poorly suppressing laughter: In your defence, Slapchop, or whatever offbrand we have, is pretty useful, especially when either your scar or my arthritis is acting up.
Jon: I'm still not convinced you didn't somehow see my notes for the recording and decided you get revenge for the first year that we knew each other.
Martin, no longer suppressing his laughter: Yep, you got me! This marriage wasn't an act of insurance fraud, but it was a near decade long con to humiliate you on a podcast that about twenty people listen to. I'll draft up the divorce papers immediately, and then we can finally go our separate ways. 
Jon: I'm glad you've at last admitted it. Such a weight off of my shoulders. Goodbye forever then.
Martin: Right.
Jon: Right.
[A beat.]
[There's a pfft from one of them, before both dissolve into giggles that lasts a good 30 seconds.]
Martin, slightly out of breath: I can't believe we're the kind of people that talk this much about speciality kitchen gadgets.
Jon: Sorry about that.
Martin: God, don't apologize. I'm, like, deliriously happy with our varying degrees of useful cooking ware filled life. If you had told 25 year old me that one day he'd be debating the merits of getting a tortilla press with his husband, he'd have wept, I tell you.
Jon: Funny, if you told 25 year old me the same thing, he would've said "You don't know the future,piss off" and then quietly have a bit of a panic at 3 am that night.
Martin: I bet you were insufferable in your mid-twenties.
Jon: First of all, who isn't, secondly, I was fresh out of Oxford, and third, I was insufferable in my late twenties, as you can attest to, and I'm insufferable now, as you can further attest to, so extrapolation would indicate that, yes, I was insufferable back then.
Martin: Probably a different kind of insufferable, though.
Jon: There are different kinds?
Martin: Of course! You used to be "prick boss" insufferable and now you're "smug in a way that I can't admit I find hot or it will go straight to your head" insufferable.
Jon, in the aforementioned smug tone: Oh, really?
Martin: See, see! Straight to your head.
Jon: Well straight is probably the wrong descriptor-
Martin: Oof, 4 out of 10 joke, babe.
Jon: That would be a far more convincing rating if you weren't grinning right now.
Martin: It's a genuine review, I'm just well known to be a sucker.
Jon: You and me both, darling.
Martin: Okay, if you're pulling out darling, you're clearly in too giddy of a mood to be focused on recording. Last question, from Jess, "You two mentioned meeting at work, but how did you actually end up together?" That's easy, Jon pulled me out of a hell dimension and then we went on the lam together to Scotland.
Jon: If that's not the way to tell a cute boy you like him, I don't know what is.
Martin: All right, that wraps up this bonus episode, and as the old saying goes, hiding from murderers in a cottage is more conducive to romance than suggesting you gouge out your eyes together.
Jon, cut off: Hey-!
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digitalsatyr23 · 2 years ago
Text
My Shadow
--Captain's Log: 32.9.66--
           My crew and I have arrived on a most unusual world. Bereft of life, its moss-covered towers stand as a stark reminder of what must have lived here ages past. The planet is oxygen-rich and plentiful in water, so it's not as if life couldn't exist here... After our probes come back, we're going to suit up and investigate the surrounding area. While we haven't seen any movement, we can't be too sure. Thang is on edge and has kept hold of his rifle ever since we landed. Hopefully our investigations will ease the tension on the ship.
--Captain's Log: 32.9.67--
           Still no sign of life, intelligent or otherwise. I did, however, come across a surprisingly well-preserved artifact that may help provide a clue. It's a primitive means of keeping track of events, like the written word we used so many years ago. I believe it's called a "diary". I've translated all the passages written within the diary and will include them in this log for posterity.
-1st Passage-
           Dear Diary,
           Today is my first day of high school. I'm a little nervous because I couldn’t make any friends in middle school, but mom and dad keep reassuring me that I'll find someone. They say that "There's no way a kid couldn't make a single friend in a school so big", but we'll see. I've never used a diary before, but I decided to start keeping track of things as a reminder of where I've been. Maybe these lonely days will fade into memory.
-2nd Passage-
           Dear Diary,
           I managed to hit it off with someone in my math class. Her name is Clarissa. Neither of us are very good at pre-algebra, but she invited me over to her place for a study session this weekend. I asked my parents and they said it was ok, so now I just need to figure out what I should bring. I think I'll bring snacks just in case. There's no guarantee there will be food for me there, and even if there is I don't want to impose.
-3rd Passage-
           Dear Diary,
           It's 10pm at night and I just can't fall asleep. Clarissa is asleep in her bed and I'm on the floor under my blanket, lighting you with my phone's flashlight. I saw something strange a little while ago that gave me the creeps. It was my shadow... Normally I don't pay it any mind because why would I? But I started noticing something strange about it. I swear it was trying to move toward the window. But I thought shadows were just things you cast when light hit you. A shadow can't move on its own, right? It's probably just my imagination.
-4th Passage-
           Dear Diary,
           Clarissa and her folks were gone by the time I woke up. I saw a note left behind that said they'd be back though, so I guess I have the place to myself for now. If I'm being honest, I really want to snoop around and see what I can find, but I probably shouldn't. Clarissa is really nice, and I don't want her to get mad at me.
-5th Passage-
           Dear Diary,
           Clarissa and her folks still aren't back yet, but it's almost 6pm. I would get it if they were going shopping and came back a couple hours later, but I haven't seen them since last night. What's the big idea? I tried calling mom and dad, but I couldn't get a hold of them. This is really weird... Clarissa's house doesn't have cable or internet, so I've just been browsing my phone to try and keep occupied. I hope nothing bad happened to them...
-6th Passage-
           Dear Diary,
           It's a new day and still no word from Clarissa, her parents, or mine. Every once and a while I catch sight of people outside, but there's something wrong with them. They're walking like zombies straight out of a horror movie, but it's with purpose. They're all going in the same direction, the same direction my shadow is pointing to. Nothing bad has happened to me, but I'm really freaked out. The only reason I'm still writing in this is to distract myself. I don't know what's going on!
-7th Passage-
           Dear Diary,
           It's been a few days. I haven't seen people in a while, and still no word from Clarissa or my folks. I... I think they're gone. I don't know for sure, but I feel like something really bad has just happened. I don't want to go outside. I'm scared, but I'm going to run out of food eventually. I'll give it a few more days. Maybe this will blow over and everything will go back to normal.
-8th Passage-
           I don't feel like writing "Dear Diary" anymore on these. At this point the only reason I'm still writing is because it helps me focus. Calms me down. The power in the house has started to fail. My guess is whoever keeps a city's electricity going must be gone now. But that means the food in the fridge is going to rot. I can't stay here any longer. I have to get out of here, but where do I go? My shadow hasn't stopped pointing in that direction, but it's not like it can force me. Maybe there are other people like me somewhere? What I'd do just to see a friendly face.
-9th Passage-
           I snuck into a supermarket, and I seem to have free rein of the place. The power is still on for some reason, but it's a pretty big store so it might have a back-up supply, or at least, I hope. I didn't see anyone on the way here, and there doesn't seem to be anyone in the store as far as I can tell. Just me and my shadow.
           The aquarium is kind of sad. Since no one's around to feed the fish, a lot of them have died. I've never seen so many dead fish in one place. Something about the empty look in their eyes as they stay floating at the top is really unnerving to me. Is that what people look like when they die? I've never been to a funeral before. Given how things are going, I might not ever see one. Maybe that's a good thing. I don't know.
           There's plenty to eat and drink here. The electronics section is still going strong. Lots of TVs on loop, some playing movies silently while others are blasting whatever was on. Most of them are just playing static.
           There's lots of furniture and even some beds on display, but I don't want to sleep in an open area. I still don't know why everyone disappeared. Right now I'm hiding in a bathroom stall because even though no one is around, I can almost feel it in the air. I'm alone, but it doesn't feel like it... Does that make sense?
-10th Passage-
           It's been a week here in the supermarket. No sign of any other survivors... Is that what I am? I must be. At this point I almost want to go after where those people went, the same direction my shadow is pointing. Maybe if I go that way, I'll finally see my parents again. Clarissa, too. Geez... I had only known Clarissa for a few days, but the longer I go without seeing anyone the more precious to me she becomes. Her soft blonde hair, her peach skin, her dreamy blue eyes... What am I saying? We're both girls. A girl can't love another girl, right? Although I'd accept anyone at this point. I just want to talk to someone. Anyone.
-11th Passage-
           After thinking it over for a few days, I've decided to go after them. I'm going to follow my shadow. I don't know what will happen, but I have to know. I have to find some answers. There are a ton of things I can take with me, and I managed to find an unlocked car that still has gas. I've only driven a couple of times, but since no one else is on the road it won't be that hard, right?
           I'm going to grab as many non-perishables and camping supplies as possible. There's no guarantee there will be food where I'm going. I have to make sure I'm prepared. Clarissa... I'll see you soon.
-12th Passage-
           Driving is harder than I thought, but I've gotten the hang of it. If I don't go too fast it's easy enough to manage. I wish the radios would work. All I hear is static. I guess that makes sense. If no one is around to run the station, then why would there be music? I considered trying to find the building to a station to see if I could use it to contact someone, but I don't know how any of that works! I feel so useless... I can barely figure out variables, let alone operate a radio. Plus if my phone can't contact anyone, then why would a radio work? I just want to hear someone's voice... I've been listening to some old podcasts, but it just isn't the same.
-13th Passage-
           I think I'm in a new state. Still no sign of anybody. I haven't even seen cows. Where did all the cows go?
-14th Passage-
           I saw something today that scared the hell out of me. I've been sleeping in the car everyone and a while to take breaks and sometimes using gas stations as shelter, but today when I woke up, I saw someone... Only, they weren't moving on their own. Their body was on the ground being dragged, but by what? His shadow was pointing the same direction mine is, and the shadow looked incredibly long. Was his shadow dragging him? I haven't felt anything from my shadow, just seen it pointing. Almost like it’s trying to get to something. But what?
-15th Passage-
           I'm starting to run into more of them. I'll call them "draggers" for ease of writing. I think I understand what's going on now, even if I don't really get it. People and even animals all seem to be heading toward the same direction. I think once their body's give out, the shadows keep pulling them on. I've seen over a dozen men and women, and even a couple of kids just getting dragged along the ground. These draggers don't seem to notice me, as one even bumped into my car before shifting away and continuing along the path. I've had to skirt around a couple since they were in the road. Why? Why is this happening!?
-16th Passage-
           I miss mom and dad! Where are they?! Clarissa... Why did you leave me?
-17th Passage-
           It's getting harder and harder to find supplies. I almost ran out of gas, but there's always at least one gas station within the car's reach. I've been making use of road maps to help navigate. It took a while to really understand them, but I have a better handle on them now.
           ... I think I'm heading toward Kansas.
-18th Passage-
           Roads keep stretching on forever. Phone barely works now. I keep it plugged in a charger connected to the car. I have lots of pencils but... I just don't care anymore. I just want this to be over. I just want to wake up...
-19th Passage-
           I ran over a bunch of draggers today. They were in my way and... Does it even matter? They're already dead. I doubt they feel pain. Some are even missing skin after getting dragged around for so long. It's gross, but I've grown numb to them. They're like ants, just marching on and on. I don't understand. I don't understand. I don't understand. I don't
-20th Passage-
           Out of gas. Out of supplies. Almost out of pencils. Had to leave the car behind. Almost there. I can feel it. I don't need sleep anymore. I just have to get going. One step at a time.
-21st Passage-
           Why do I keep writing? I... I can hardly hold my pencil anymore. It's like a ritual, I guess. Gives me something to hold onto. I... Almost lost my pencil there. Ha ha. Why would I write ha ha? That doesn't make sense. These are words. You can't hear words. No one can.
-22nd Passage-
           mmmmmmmmmmmmm
-23rd Passage-
           I can feel it. It's almost over. There's something just over the horizon. I'm getting closer...
-24th Passage-
           I found it. I really really found it. All of this... It was all leading up to this. I finally know where my parents are. Where Clarissa and everybody else went. I understand. And now... I can finally join them. I... I guess I'm going to die. But we'll be together really soon.
           Dear Diary,
           Thank you.
-End of Diary-
           My crewmates were understandably disturbed after hearing the translation. Something bad happened on this planet, but what? We haven't seen any sign of these "draggers" as this person put it. What did she see?
--Captain's Log: 32.9.68--
           My crew and I made a big discovery today. I believe this is where everyone went. This place... Kansas, was it? According to the map our probes provided, we're almost in the center of this land. This thing, it looks like a giant ball of swirling darkness. Faint images of figures can be seen in it, but only if the sun hits it just right. Are these the shadows the diary spoke of? Beneath the orb is a giant hole in the ground. I don't want to risk getting too close. Whatever it is, it's dangerous. We can only watch from a distance as this orb continues to swirl around endlessly above a gaping maw in the earth.
--Captain's Log: 32.9.69--
           One of my crew went missing. Our trackers lead us straight back to the orb, so if that's the case he might have... No, it's impossible. There's no way he'd fall prey to whatever that thing is. But then again, he was always a little weak willed. Maybe it affects the minds of those it comes in contact with?
--Captain's Log: 32.9.70--
           I can't find any of my crew. They're all gone. The trackers all point to the same direction, all toward the orb of swirling shadows... Why? Without a full crew, I'm stranded here. What's more, I've noticed my own shadow started pointing toward the orb. Does it want to join them?
--Captain's Log: 32.9.71--
           There's no other choice. I must go in. I've sent out a distress beacon, but I don't know how much longer my mind can resist the orb's effect. Luckily, I have plenty of cord I can use. I'll just tie myself to the ship and go from there. I'm not leaving this planet without my crew.
--End of Captain's Log--
           Eventually, a ship arrived to investigate the distress beacon, but the planet was deemed too dangerous to land on. Images from space showed an abandoned ship and a length of cord that was severed near a giant hole in the ground, as well as a strange black orb that was floating above it. The planet known as Earth was catalogued under "Dead Worlds" and marked to be avoided. However, once every so often, a lone ship lands on the planet to investigate, and they too are absorbed into the swirling darkness. Perhaps one day we all will be one.
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curiousconch · 3 years ago
Text
Chase You / Chase Me (Pt. 1)
Part 1: Burning on the Edge of Something Beautiful
Catch up here: Series Masterlist
Chapter Summary: Alex finds herself personally affected by the Rothswell case and Gabe attempts to find out why.
Book/Pairing: Choices - Laws of Attraction / Gabe Ricci x MC (Alex Keating)
Words: 1.8k+
Rating/Warnings: Mature (16+) / implied sexual content, alcohol consumption
Disclaimer: Most of the characters as well as some dialogues belong to Pixelberry. I am merely borrowing them.
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Wednesday Evening at McGraw Byrne
Back from a day in the courts, Gabe stepped out of the elevator and into the halls of McGraw Byrne. Eager to finish the day's work, he passed by the break room where he unwittingly heard something that made him instantly halt.
"Did you see how clammed up Keating became when you asked her that question?" Gabe heard Vanderweil's deep voice.
"Actually, I sensed something irked her during the ride back. Seems like I did strike a chord," a serious female voice replied, which Gabe presumed was Sinclair's.
He made the assumption that the line of conversation was about their visit to the Rothswell's mansion. Earlier that day, the law firm's major client Philip Rothswell, demanded that they see to the whole Lydia and Joey situation. So Gabe and Sadie instructed the associates to go see the young heiress, trying to give the firm more time to create a more solid strategy than playing family counselor.
When they were placating Rothswell, he noticed how Alex fidgeted in her chair as she listened to their client. The way her body pulled up every defensive stance in the book full with meaning.
Seems that what he just overheard confirmed his suspicions. Something was bothering Alex Keating. And like all things Alex, it piqued at his curiosity.
It irked him that he did, more than he was willing to admit. Seems like even as trivial as office gossip, as long as its about her, Gabe is guaranteed to take notice.
Hastening his strides, he continued on to his plush new office, the setting sun coloring the wood furnishings with a hue of orange. He tossed his briefcase on the khaki couch, his leather soles padding on the clean white carpet. Loosening his tie, he crossed the room towards his desk. He took off his coat, hanging it on the rack nearby and turned to face the glass walls which offered a much better view of the concrete jungle below.
His mind whirred as he rationalized with himself as to why he was so invested with Alex. He initially chalked it up as a familiar, primal response to her... attractiveness. Yet as he watched her emerge from every pressure test and challenge he and Sadie gave her, he can't help but root for her.
It's not just that. After a long time, Gabe wanted to be near someone. He wanted to hear what bothers them, their goals, even their history. A level of interest he never exhibited to his usual carnal pursuits.
She stirred up something sleeping within him, something he willed never to return.
Consumed by the thoughts of her, Gabe finds himself glancing at his Rolex and hatching a guise to know what made the mighty Alex Keating got so worked up about.
**
Sometime later, uptown New York
"Alex... Have you ever had someone like Joey mess with your head? It's not about smart or stupid," Gigi had asked.
Alex poked her fork at the piece of chocolate soufflé as her mind whirled back to the ride back to the office.
"I'm not buying you any more of that Riesling if you wouldn't even bother being a worthy companion," Gabe teased, before downing another glass of scotch across her.
Her head immediately perked up, breaking free from her introspection. Alex forced a smile in response.
"As if another glass would make a dent in your indomitable fortune," she leaned back, trying to hide her thoughts under the façade of her sarcasm, rolling her eyes at him for added effect.
The two find themselves in a swanky New York restaurant, its upscale interior design worthy of the five star Yelp rating. The sleek tables and gray scandinavian chairs made Alex grateful that her wine red dress fit among the crowd. With a private booth overlooking the city lights and the delicious gourmet food served, she did not regret accepting Gabe's dinner invitation to meet a client.
Her mind decided that more work and Gabe's company was a great way to distract herself from the nagging of her memories, and it didn't hurt that the senior partner was easy on the eyes.
And when the supposed big shot canceled at the last minute, Alex completely saw it as a win.
"Something bothers you." Gabe suddenly articulated, breaking her from her contemplations.
Alex's brow arched in reply, as Gabe stated it like a fact, not as a question.
Crossing her legs under the table, she folded her arms across her chest.
"And why does that concern my pretend-boyfriend, hm?" she interjected, hoping to evade his interrogation.
"You're not the only astute one in this booth," Gabe let his eyes trail across her defensive stance the second time today.
Throughout the course of their meal, the heat between them simmered as well as the flow of their usual banter. Their chemistry was palpable, convincing even the waiter of the restaurant. The cocky man was certainly redefining the phrase hot and cold for Alex. He quickly and easily shut down her attempts to flirt, pulling back when the temperature between them reached a boiling point.
But Alex was more surprised, pleasantly so, when Gabe briefly opened up about his past and the vague explanation of why he's still not settled down.
She sensed the current trajectory of their conversation was what Gabe planned to have all along.
But now, as she swirled the remaining expensive liquid in her glass, trying to decide whether to put her guards up or to just give in, she couldn't deny the uncharacteristic softness in his gaze. It was magnetizing, making Alex want to fold and drop her pretentions.
She watched him as he seemed to eagerly anticipate for her retort, a half smile lingering on that pretty mouth of his.
Alex knew he won't push her if she didn't want to, yet a part of her wanted to share the heaviness that weighed on her shoulder since meeting Lydia Rothswell. Of how much the teenager reminded her of her old, naïve self.
She's been trying to rack her brain for a reasonable explanation for her growing desire to introduce herself to Gabe more than she'd allowed the string of men that she had trysts with. Despite her continuous self-denial, her gut is telling her that Gabe wasn't like any other she crossed paths with.
Making up her mind, she decided to let the door open. Maybe just a little.
She sipped her wine beckoning some needed courage, wishing that she ordered something stronger.
Taking a deep breath, she began, her eyes fixed on the view behind him.
"Since you were wondering, my otherwise impeccable track record is stained by one mistake," she paused, finally turning her gaze to Gabe's waiting eyes.
"Like Lydia, I trusted the wrong person," she continued. "I... risked everything and got nothing."
Gabe's mouth twitched ever so slightly, sensing a fluttering in him because of Alex's candor. There was no trace of the witty comebacks he'd grown to see in her, only vulnerability.
And somehow, he adored her more.
He watched her as she bit her thumbnail, an action greatly contradicting the fiery personality she projected in front of everyone else.
Alex gritted her teeth as she fought back the overwhelming emotions as she stopped herself from revealing more than she's prepared to. Not yet, not tonight, she thought.
"But I woke up from that nightmare, solemnly swearing to myself that I wouldn't repeat the same wrong decision that almost railroaded my whole future," she concluded, determined not to expose herself any further.
A hush fell between them.
Alex raised her head to meet the eyes of the man that made her walls crack, expecting to find intrigue. Instead, she found a subtle look of understanding.
It's as if it was telling her that he knew. He knew every pain and every hurt that she wanted to just forget and bury inside a box, never to be opened again.
Just because for him, pain was a familiar companion. That like her, he too, has been through hell and back.
And while she relished under his attention, her breath slowed, letting herself be trapped within the depths of those reassuring brown eyes. Alex thought nothing can make her drop down her guard, but Gabe's next actions proved that there's still more he can do to break down her walls.
Without thinking, Gabe reached for her hand and took it in his, skimming his own thumb on her knuckles in an attempt to comfort her. He smiled warmly at her, expressing a gentleness that she never thought he was capable of.
It made Alex's heart skip a beat.
Even Gabe seemed to slowly enter the same daze, unable to veer away from Alex's unguarded view. Any remnants of his resistance, leaving him. He found himself leaning in, lured by the heady scent of her perfume - a mix of coffee, vanilla and jasmine. An unexpected combination that enticed him more to her.
For a few moments, their world stood still, as if they were on the edge of discovering something that all their lives they subconsciously sought.
Something more than any flirtation or any pursuit for lustful pleasure. Something more...
"More drinks, Gabe?" a familiar voice broke them from the temporary oasis that they pulled themselves in.
All of a sudden, they were sucked back to the reality of their actual surroundings. The noise of other patrons of the restaurant, the soft ambience of the lights overhead, and the fact that he was her current boss, and that she was under his professional supervision.
Gabe turned to James, their waiter, and refused the offer nonchalantly, and instead asked for their check.
"We should head back to the salt mines, the stack of work on my desk probably hasn't gotten any smaller since we left," Gabe casually said, erasing any trace of what just happened between them. Alex silently agreed, following his queue by checking her phone for emails.
The trip to the lobby was wordless, as well as the wait for their ride. Up until Gabe opened the door of the town car, not following Alex inside.
"Aren't you coming?" Alex inquired, briefly confused.
He cleared his throat, his expression stoic before he answered her. "I think its best if we part ways here. I wasn't kidding about needing to head back to the office," he paused, a look of contemplation in his eyes before it softly shifted to that of sincerity.
"You, on the other hand, should go home and get some rest. Partner's orders."
Alex couldn't help but smile. "Whatever you say, Gabe."
"Careful, Alex. I just might hold you to that promise one of these days," Gabe replied, the usual playfulness evident in his tone.
And with that, the door closed and the car pulled away.
But as Gabe watched the vehicle fade out of his sight, his phone pinged for an email. Glancing down at his screen, he saw the name of the sender, prompting him to open it in haste.
The message contained a single statement: "I found what you asked me to look for." An attachment was included.
When he opened the file, he saw a picture of a younger version of the woman he just parted from.
And a look of recognition passed over his face.
Author's Notes: This is getting a little canon divergent, though I'm just expanding their dinner conversation and using the intimate setting provided in the original book.
Tags: @adiehardfan @pixelnutrookie @starryjieun @fucking-random1 @choicesficwriterscreations
Thank you for reading! Let me know if you want to be tagged or removed on succeeding installments. If not, please reblog or comment, I'd really appreciate it!
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chibinekochan · 4 years ago
Text
Asking the brothers to be your "lip model"
Based on a request.
Common scenario:
You are at your wits' end. After staring at drawing references for hours, and trying all of the tutorials you could find, you are about to cry. It's just no use!
The lips you draw just don't look good at all.
You need a model and that asap.
Then you spot one of the brothers who has nothing better to do.
With a smile, your sketchbook, and well-placed puppy eyes, you go over to him.
  Asmodeus
"Hey Asmo, could you help me out?"
"Hmm... sure what do you need?"
"I really need a model as a reference to draw lips." You ramp up the puppy eyes.
“Oh, you have come to the right person. I will gladly model for you." Asmo seems delighted.
"Thank you so much Asmo, you are the best." You make sure to make him feel good about his offer.
"No problem, is there a certain pose you want to draw? I mean I have only good sides so no worries there." Asmo smiles and makes a few different faces.
"It's alright just like this. I just need a real close view if that's okay with you?"
"Sure, come as close as you need to but I won't guarantee that I won't kiss you." Asmo smiles sweetly.
"I mean I wanted to give you a payment later but I don't mind doing it now."
"Hehe, you know me too well. Okay, just one kiss now and then you can pay me the rest later in private. I can give you some more reference poses too if you want." Asmo looks forward to that treatment.
"Maybe another day for today it's only your mouth and for the payment well I'm open to negotiating later." You play along with his flirting while finishing your drawing after the promised kiss.
   Leviathan
"Hey Levi, I could use your help."
"Huh? Me? Why me? I mean I don't mind but I don't even know why you are talking to me." Levi is confused.
"Pretty please?! You will be my hero!" You turn the puppy eyes to the max.
Levi shifts around, but he knows that he already lost. "Alright, fine. I will help you. What do I need to do?"
You smile. "I need you to model for me."
Levi almost falls over. "Wait, hold on a minute! YOU want ME to model for you? I mean aren't their better people here that you can ask?"
" I don't see why not?! You already agreed to help me so please??" You don't see the issue at all.
Levi crumbles under your begging eyes. "Alright, alright… I'm your best friend so it's my job to help you. So Ummm what do I need to do?"
"Sweet, just sit still and let me draw your lips." You get in a good position.
Leviathan blushes and can barely look at you.
You gaze at his face and move ever so slightly closer, to get a really good look at his lips.
Levi starts to move around and is covering his face.
"Hold still Levi."
"Sorry... It's just that you are so close… it makes me nervous." Levi tries and fails to sit still.
"What are you afraid that I'm going to bite you?" You laugh. "Don't worry, the worst thing I will do is kiss you." You playfully wink at him.
Levi blushes again. "We-we are in public!" This seems to be the first thing that came to his mind.
So you decide to tease him a little. "Ah, so it would be okay to kiss you in private?"
Levi looks very troubled now and also very red. "Wait a moment, hold it right there." He uses his arms to shield himself from the attack. Levi then takes a deep breath.
"Alright, so Ummm fine you can kiss me in private. I mean unless you are joking and just play with me then you are banned from kissing me!" He stammers a bit but his point stands.
You feel pretty proud of him right now.
"Alright, in that case, I will give you later a kiss or two in your room." You aren't playing with him after all.
    Mammon
"Mammon good that you are here. I could use your modeling skills right now."
"So you need MY professional help? Well, as your first demon I guess I just have to help you." Mammon's ego got a huge boost from your request.
"Thank you Mammon, you are the best." You just decide to gloss over the second half of his response and move across from Mammon to get a better look.
"I am? I mean, of course, I'm the best. So umm what pose should I strike… Ummmm I mean you don't require me to get naked or something like that right?!" Mammon shifts from being confident to insecure within one second.
"No, I just want to draw your lips. Well at least for now." You give him a small wink and smile.
Mammon blushes. "You can't just say something like that. It's unfair you know." He pouts a little.
Mammon is kinda cute like this, but you don't mention it and get to work.
Mammon looks slightly nervous at you.
Even more so when you move very closely.
"Hey what are you planning to do?!" Mammon seems unsure how to feel about this.
"Hm? I'm just drawing, see?" You show Mammon the rough, still unfinished, drawing of his lips.
"It looks very good already and I just mean because, you know, you are so close. I could almost you know…kiss you…" Mammon looks away, feeling a bit bashful.
"Do you want to kiss me?" You grin at him, knowing the answer.
"Do I have to spell it out for you?" Mammon sighs and looks you straight into your eyes. "Fine, I want to kiss you. There I said it, are you happy now?"
"Yes, very happy." You smile and to prove your point you kiss him.
    Belphegor
"Belphie, do you have time right now?"
"Well, I was about to take a nap but if it's not too much of a hassle I can help." Belphie shrugs, a bit indifferent.
"I just need your help with drawing lips. All you have to do is stay still."
"Well, that doesn't seem to be that hard. Fine, you can draw me while I nap." Belphie doesn't seem to care or mind.
He just gets comfortable with his pillow.
You take your supplies and move across from him.
He closes his eyes and you start to work.
You move a bit closer and then even closer until you almost touch his face.
His eyes fluttering open. "Hey, what are you planning to do?"
"I'm just drawing your lips." You point to your sketchbook.
"You are pretty close for that. Are you sure that you don't have some hidden agenda?" Belphie looks at you with suspicion in his voice.
"What kind of agenda would that be? You know I would never hurt you." You feel slightly offended.
"I know. I didn't mean that. I meant something else like hmm kissing me for example. Like sleeping beauty you know?" Belphie smiles sheepishly.
"So you think of yourself as a sleeping beauty?" You can't help yourself but giggle.
"Well no. I'm not Asmo. I know that you are the pretty one in this relationship. I just meant that you would try to wake me up with a kiss." Belphie blushes slightly.
"You can be pretty sweet at times, you know that. I mean if you want to I can wake you up with a kiss when I'm done." You smile at Belphie.
"Maybe but don't tell that to anyone. You will ruin my reputation." Belphie smiles in a very kind way. "So anyway how much longer will that drawing of yours take?"
"It's almost done. Take a look." You show the drawing to Belphie.
"Good work. I would say you did enough for one day. So come here and take a nap with me." Belphie looks at you with puppy eyes.
Very cheap tricks right there. Sadly they are your weakness. "Okay, but only if you don't use me as a pillow again."
"I can't promise that, since you are the best pillow."Belphie just shrugs and pulls you closer.
You can't win against him and kiss him before going for a nap.
   Satan
"Satan, I have a favor to ask of you."
"Hm? What do you need?"
"I need help with drawing lips so I want you to model for me."
"Ah, I see. I can't say that I'm a professional model but if you need help with that, then sure why not." Satan seems strangely eager but you just ignore that.
You get your supplies and move across from him.
You start working but soon you notice that Satan is stiff as a board. " Satan, please just relax."
"Sorry I guess I'm just kinda nervous when you stare that much."
"I see. I just want to draw this as well as possible. Just try to think about something else. Maybe you can read something?" You want Satan to relax.
"Yeah, I can try that but won't the book be in the way?"
"It should be fine if you hold it a bit away from your face but it might be hard to read. Oh wait, here is a magazine from Asmo. You can just look through that." You just see the random magazine laying on the table.
"I don't usually read these but yeah it might be helpful." Satan grabs the magazine and starts to flip threw it.
You continue your drawing.
"Hey, do you think I'm a bad boyfriend?" Satan just suddenly drops this question out of the blue.
"Huh? No, why do you ask?"
'I did this test here, just for fun, it's 'how do you know if you have a bad boyfriend'. I answered the questions and it turns out that I'm a bad boyfriend." Satan sounds unusually distraught.
"These magazines are full of bs. Don't take it seriously. You are a great guy and a great boyfriend." You smile at him. You can't believe that he would take this seriously.
"Well, I believe you if you say so." Satan still seems kind of troubled.
You know that he needs some kind of proof now. You put your sketchbook to the side and then kiss him. "You should believe me since I love you."
"I believe you and I love you too."
    Lucifer
"Lucifer, I have a request for you."
"Hmm, what do you want?"
"I just need you to model for me. I need a reference for drawing lips."
"So you think I would be a good reference for that?"
"Of course. You have some very lovely lips."
"I see you would know best about that. Go right ahead then. "Lucifer is very flattered.
You get right to work. You sit right across from Lucifer, looking at him and then looking at the drawing, drawing, looking…
Lucifer just sits calmly right there, with his gaze upon you. "Can you see everything good enough from that distance?"
"It's pretty good. Unless you want me to move closer?!"
"Do you even need to ask that?" He pats the space next to him.
You move over next to Lucifer. "Better now?"
"Yeah a bit better, but now where you are so close I suddenly have lost all desire to model."
"I know how that feels. I suddenly have lost all motivation to draw." You cuddle up to Lucifer, who seems to appreciate this.
"In that case, we should just stay like this for a while and enjoy the quiet time we have." Lucifer puts his arm around your shoulder and you both just relax for a while.
    Beelzebub
"Beel I could use your help."
"Of course I will help. What do you need me to do?"
"I just need you to model for me. I struggle to draw lips today."
"Ah, I see alright then. So all I gotta do is stay still?"
"Yeah, that's it." You move right across from Beel.
He seems a bit unsure about what to do.
"You can just relax, no reason to be stiff."
"I have never done this before, sorry."
"Don't worry about it. I'm glad you help me." You smile and start your work.
Beel just watches you with slight amazement.
You move slowly closer to him, to get a good view.
You can kinda feel his breath, but you are so far into the zone that you don't notice.
At least until a loud rumble interrupts you.
You look up and blush upon noticing the familiar face right in front of you.
"Sorry, that was my stomach."Beel seems to be flustered, if only by his stomach noises.
"We should take a break then. Can't have you starving after all." You put your sketchbook down. Now that you think about it, you are feeling a bit hungry yourself.
"Sorry, I kinda forced you to stop." Beel sighs.
"Don't worry about it. After you said something about eating I realized I'm hungry too." You give him a gentle smile.
"I hope you don't just say that to make me feel better." Beel is feeling guilty, you can tell.
"No, and besides you helped me so now it's my turn to help you. Let's just go and have a sandwich or ten." You smile at him to reassure Beel.
"Make that a hundred and we have a deal." Beel seems to accept this and has his usual smile back.
"Alright, I will even throw a kiss on top of that." You smile and kiss Beel.
   Check my Obey me! Masterlist for more content
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the-ghost-king · 4 years ago
Note
time for me to share a good™️ headcanon: will and nico love to steal each other’s clothes but their massive size difference makes it so obvious that they’re doing it. nico’s shirts are almost croptops on will and will’s sweaters are practically a dress on nico bc will is like 6’2 and nico’s like 5’5
Anon! Anon! Yes, you. You get it.
I don’t really know what you wanted as a response to this but I felt inspired for the first time in some 10 months so I gifted you a one shot below the “read more”. I’ll also upload it to Ao3 with a link in the notes...
Anyhow Anon, I hope you enjoy it! I got a little off topic but reflective fluff is always good!
If you would have asked Will what he wanted out of life as a kid you probably would have gotten an answer that was something like “a chance to actually go and live life as it was meant to be” or maybe “to be happy, pretty, and stupid”. 
He didn’t dare to hope for more, demigods didn’t live long lives, and being involved in a major battle at thirteen didn’t do wonders in regards to establishing confidence in your survival. As for the “pretty and stupid” part of his answer, it wasn’t that Will had ever hated being smart, he just hated the disconnect different intelligence levels caused in peer groups and society; being smart was hard, sure for school purposes it was nice, but that intelligence means you’re constantly thinking and so often so much of the world seems so dull and petty. Will had been lucky enough to be blessed with decent looks, moving through the world was made easy in at least that regard, but he wished he could live without thinking so much because so often he could only see so much awful in the world. 
Thirteen year old Will wouldn’t have dared hope for anything more, he wouldn’t have dared hope for anything else more than a decade or so of normal life beyond camp and a chance at an easy life for those few years. When fourteen year old Will got a depression diagnosis he wouldn’t say he was surprised, he would have been annoyed but he hadn’t really felt much of anything in years. (”Atypical depression” The doctor had said, “likely clinical”)  A few different types of anti-depressants and a few months of therapy things started feeling okay, better at least. Fifteen came and went, he tried to go off the pills and didn’t quite get there, but his dose got lowered which Will supposed was nice. 
In the months of early 16, Nico di Angelo stumbles into his life; exhausted and melting under the pressure of the universe, he makes friends with death. It isn’t much, but Will remembers him from when they were kids back before any major fights. He remembers hearing about Nico running off and he felt bad for not having made a continued effort to get to know him. He felt bad when he left after the Battle of Manhattan too, they’d prepped bodies for their departure together and Will had gotten hung up in the infirmary (he had been one of the last Apollo campers and he was the only one with medical training). In some ways, Will supposed he was making up for those lost years when he didn’t have time to befriend Nico as he would have liked, it made him feel like he was at least trying.
In the beginning things were undeniably rocky, Nico was constantly hooked to machines just so Will could guarantee he wouldn’t die overnight. Even on Nico’s first night in the infirmary he had struggles with sleep, the bed wasn’t comfortable enough and after trying a large variety of options Will had hauled Nico and all of his equipment out to the porch on the back of the infirmary and they slept there for those three days (which turned into two weeks), wrapped up in jackets and in a pile of blankets beneath camp’s fall skies.
Within a few months, they fell in love. 
Okay listen, people can call Will ridiculous all they want- but love at first sight is real and he experienced it. He didn’t know it but the day he met Nico and looked into the dark browns of his eyes, he thought something about how his eyes looked like ash from the fireplace at Mama’s house, or how they looked like the soil that his windowsill plants grew from. If you would have asked Will what he thought of Nico the very first time they’d met, he would have told you something about how his eyes were “big, dark, and round like a baby cow”. What Will really meant is that Nico reminded him of the family ranch house he grew up in, he meant he looked like home. 
At the time Will just hadn’t known that was what love felt like, but when he figured it out one day teaching Nico how to play Hold ‘em on the back porch of the infirmary with a light breeze and setting sun as they settles down for bed; he knew one thing, he didn’t want anything more than to make Nico happy and he hoped that he could be a part of that more than anything.
It took a little longer for Nico to come around, he had his own demons to battle. Internalized homophobia, even in small doses, is a real downer to say the least, let alone when you’re fighting demons you’ve manifested for some 15 years. The biggest struggle however, was probably in all honesty the fact that Nico was so goddamned oblivious. After spending years alone with limited human contact at best, and having spent so many years desperately wanting Percy to notice him, and being met with negative reactions, Nico didn’t know what love looked like anymore. How had he been supposed to know he was in love with Will?
There was a lot of subtle back and forth, would the other even be interested in a guy? It ended one day with an unplanned kiss followed by a declaration. Will called it the best mistake he ever made, neither of them really thought it was a mistake.
It was days like today that only proved that.
Will had woken up to Nico’s face on a pillow next to him. He’d fallen asleep with his hair pulled back in a ponytail, and some of his smaller hairs had fallen loose in the night and now framed his peaceful face. The first rays of golden sunlight fell through accidentally left open curtains, and Will reached out to brush a stray piece of dark hair and place it behind Nico’s ear. 
He woke up to a morning more beautiful than he would have ever hoped for at 13, and he would always be glad for that. He would always be grateful for how far he had come in not quite a decade. At just twenty-two he was 4 years into medical school, and three years married to Nico and he truly believed he was one of the happiest men in the world simply because he made Nico happy.
In time, Nico too would wake up. 
First with a huff, and then a grumbling noise of annoyance as he rubbed his face with his arm as though trying to block out light before half-asleep Nico seemed to accept his fate and wake up fully. 
“Good morning”
“How long have you been up?”
“Awhile”
Nico made a knowledgeable humming sound, perhaps he was just acknowledging Will’s response or perhaps he was saying ‘of course’. 
A few kisses, a short conversation, and a couple of “I love you”’s later, they got out of bed.
Nico's was wearing Will's high school hoodie that was a bit too short on Will anymore like it was a dress on him. The hoodie went down to Nico’s knees, he's got his own black shorts on because Will's just fall off unless he ties them really really tight. He's got black socks pulled up almost to his knees, there’s a little gap between the end of Nico’s shorts and the start of his socks. The hoodie goes down an inch or two past his short pockets, and he goes outside to grab the mail with a pair of unlaced combat boots on his feet. He's got his skull ring on his middle finger of his right hand, and his left hand holds a simple wedding band which glint in the light as he opens the front door. His hair is pulled up into a messy ponytail, some of it is up some of it is down, there's tons of flyaway hairs which frame his face since he hasn’t fixed it sense getting out of bed.
Call it a cliché, but Nico looks like Heaven personified without even trying. 
Sure, everyone looks nice in a suit or a dress, but how many people can roll out of bed without doing their hair wearing a decade old hoodie and look like they belong in a magazine spread?
Will is wearing one of Nico's looser shirts, on Nico it comes down past his hips and a little onto his thighs, on Will is he so much as lifts his arms a centimeter it reveals his hip bones. He doesn’t really mind, he kind of likes it to be entirely honest. Will can remember being just a few inches shorter than he is now and fitting fairly comfortably in Nico’s clothes at the time, they had never worried whose clothes they grabbed back then. Nico had finished his growth spirt and Will had thought he was done only two inches taller, it didn’t matter whose clothes were whose because everything fit well enough.
That wasn't quite the case now, Nico had stayed at his casual 5"5 while Will had shot up and extra six inches to 6"2 and ruined his own chances of sharing clothes. Such as right now he was sure he was wearing his own sweats, because he had specifically had to get a pair last night despite Nico's having been more accessible. Anytime he's actually managed to get a pair of Nico's pants comfortably on in the last few years, result in him wearing pants that are more like compression shorts or capris than pants.
Will was just happy he could wear some of Nico's larger shirts and hoodies still, the fact that Nico preferred to sleep in lots of clothes and typically baggy clothes meant Will had some options when it came to wearing his husbands stuff.
Will has also managed to steal a pair of Nico's socks, they're a taller pair on Nico (he buys winter wear so often because he's cold always) but on Will they gather a little awkwardly around his ankle. Will doesn't usually wear socks but they had gone to bed without the heat on and apparently the cold had set in over night and you could definitely feel it on their apartment floors.
The clothes would be a bit stretched out from him, it was something Will can remember being worried about after his second growth spurt, but Nico doesn't mind, He's assured Will of this time and time again, he says something about "aesthetic" and "alternative". Will doesn't really know, he's never cared much for fashion but he'll take Nico's word on it. 
The truth, although it's something Nico would only admit in their bed late at night when it was so dark you could barely see his face, and arguably a little drunk as well, was that he actually enjoyed the way the clothes fit better after Will wore them. He found some sort of comfort in the way the shoulders of his shirts would be just a little too wide on him, it was one of those small acts of love, it wasn't one Will entirely understood but both of them got their own sort of enjoyment out of Will stretching out Nico's sleeping clothes some so they went with it.
Will turns his attention from Nico walking out the door to the coffee pot on the countertop.
Will doesn't like coffee much, he likes the social aspect of getting a cup more. Nico had introduced him to it, he’d been drinking it for years by the time they’d left camp. It reminded him of home and he grew to like it for such reasons, and although Nico would consume just about anything with enough caffeine in it Will needed creamer to enjoy coffee to any amount. 
They were both honestly probably more tea people, but they never seemed to remember to buy any. Will will try to remember to write it down on the grocery list later, but Nico has walked back into the kitchen, climbed up on the counter next to Will and now he is looking at him; and Nico is always a distraction that's worthy of taking, Will will definitely forget to write down tea for their grocery list and the week will start over with more coffee in the house and no tea.
Nico’s fingers grip the countertop and he swings his legs a little bit back and forth from where he sits on the black granite, his white gold rings set against the counter in contrast. Will's worn out blue hoodie looks grey with age, the little printed letters are cracked and peeling on the back of it, his last name can still be read in white though. 
Will knows the cliché about your lover wearing your name is often unhealthy and overly possessive, but he likes seeing Nico with his name because it feels like a gift. It’s like he’s given Nico a part of himself and Nico accepted it with pride, and Will loves that, he loves him and Nico being little pieces of each other.
Nico is smiling at him, and leans just so, Will turns in acknowledgment of the gesture, and moves so he’s standing to the left of Nico. Nico crosses his legs at the ankle and leans towards Will laying his head against Will where his neck and shoulder meet. Will leans forward and buries his face into Nico’s hair, comfortable and a little sleepy still.
"Coffee?"
"Mhmm."
"Good."
Will isn't the best cook, for fucks sake he's not even someone who could be considered a good cook, but he can handle this. Nico taught him the basics when they were still living at camp, Will failed every time, he ended up going home for a short period for Christmas break and begging his mom "teach me how to make eggs" he left off the bit about impressing Nico but he knows she knew. When he came back Nico had just smiled at him, "you practiced huh?"
Will hadn't gotten better at making much else, some eggs, toast, coffee and he could boil water now too! He had burnt lots of stuff over the years, plastic containers in the microwave, a plastic ladle they had on the stove top, at least 100 failed attempts at grilled cheese. Will was honestly just happy he hadn’t blown up any microwaves since he was a kid... 
Nico had come home to many of Will's failed attempts at making him various things, sometimes the food was underdone other times it was bits of inedible char. Will did try, he really did, but the heat was always too high or he would end up distracted, or he would use sugar on accident instead of salt. Will did actually try, but his best attempts still often left something to be desired, so he often was the one doing dishes.
Most notably one time Nico had come home to him attempting to pan-frying some fish.
It had been supposed to be a surprise, it was Nico's birthday, and Will had had the day off of class even though Nico hadn't. He figured he would have surprised him; it had been back in their first apartment, not quite as nice as this one. A cheap tiled cream counter top that Nico had literally cringed at when seeing it the first time, the cabinets had somehow been cheaper than a set from IKEA and it had become an inside joke to them.
He had walked in the apartment to see smoke coming off the pan with a bit of flame still coming off it, and a large piece of charred fish stuck to the bottom of one of their frying pans.
"Hey dumbass, what did you do in here?" 
People thought they were an odd couple, Will could see that. The whole parallel people drew between light and dark and optimism and pessimism and such between them, none of those people were really correct though. Will and Nico were more similar than they were different. At the end of the day it didn’t really matter what people said, Will liked Nico, he loved him in all honesty- he'd never heard the word "dumbass" said with so much affection.
Nico was hard for most people to read, years along had left him struggling emotionally in some manner; he did his best to hide most of his emotions, cloak them so heavily that sometimes they were even unrecognizable to Nico himself. 
The most obvious example of this in regards to Nico was how "shut up" often meant "I love you", "idiot" was synonymous with "darling" in some ways. Don't get Will wrong, Nico could be very affectionate, but pet names came with hesitation for him in the early days; Should he use Venetian, Italian, or English? Masculine words that were romantic had been hard for him to say as well... But everyday he grew and got better, and Will was proud of him every time he called Will “dear” and didn’t hesitate before or after. 
Nico had started masking his emotions at some point during his time at Westover, whatever he had done there hadn’t been much more than how much the average person masked their feelings, but when he started training with Minos Nico had doubled down on keeping his emotions secretive. Minos hadn’t been kind or safe in any sense of the word, emotions were what he used to manipulate Nico all that time, it was no wonder Nico developed such a strong sense of apathy towards anything overtime. 
Nico could be affectionate, he could be the most loving person to ever exist. Nico’s emotions were sort of like secrets, if you stayed awake late enough into the night you would only come to know him then, such was the nature of him. He often whispered so quietly his wants and needs into the dark, there was some sense of fear tied to Nico’s vulnerability and he handed off his worries each night to the stars soft glow. Nico often refused to talk openly during the day, but at night apologies and truth always came, he had known what he had wanted earlier he had simply been to afraid of the rejection to acknowledge it, Will is glad that with the years the worst of such things is over; it is unlikely to be something Nico will ever fully grow out of, such is the nature of humanity, but progress is a virtue.
Such times not only resulted in Nico’s acknowledgement of his wants and faults, but also garnered the most affection from Nico. Nico couldn’t always communicate in an effective manner verbally, which was still a process they were working on, but he did his best. Nico’s act of love was like that of a small bird, he gave you small things that seemed insignificant until you realized he had only ever told you such things. Will fell in love with him for it, it wasn’t just about the way he would describe the wallpaper in his childhood bedroom, it was the fact that nobody knew anything else about Nico’s childhood bedroom. 
Will had never truly understood the concept of “touch starved” until he met Nico, he had known the definition sure, but he had never truly witnessed it. Nico never asked for touch, but it was the way he leaned into it, the way he sought it out; pressing up against Will’s hand like a cat stretching trying to get a little more contact somehow, trying to make the touch last just a bit longer so he could savor it properly. It was literally starving in some manner, starving for contact that wasn’t a goodbye or a hit, just for wordless contact. When he grew comfortable he gave affection fully, there was a joy in holding Nico’s hand, knowing that he felt safe enough not to worry about the effect a few extra seconds of prepping for a fight that holding hands would add.
Nico didn’t show affection in big ways, and that was more than okay with Will; they were laid back in comparison to most, he’d have sought the comfort of placing soap bubbles on each others head in the tub a hundred times over a night on the town. Nico’s affection was something quiet and almost secretive, unknown to anyone it wasn’t directed at; it was the way he would lead Will out of a room to kiss him, or the quiet way he whispered “I love you” into Will’s ear when in public.  
Will supposes in the early days “shut up” became “I love you” in order to avoid being seen as weak in some manner, in order to avoid acknowledging what he really wanted to say and having Will not respond in kind. Will didn't mind, they weren't an overly affectionate pairing- banter was common, almost everything they did was turned into some sort of game, the term "boys will be boys" definitely applied to their relationship of 3am pillow fights, late night discussions about what order the Christmas ornaments had to go up on the tree in, and whenever they wrote thesis papers for living room debates over the best Disney villain.
Will honestly preferred it that way, he preferred having the little moments reserved for solely them. He preferred the aversion to sappy clichés, the way a lover could say your name with exasperation and a smile that meant the whole world. He had seen what some other couples had, quick kisses in lines at cafes, holding hands across the table, and calling each other pet names they’d made up that were somehow ten times worse than the original- and Will didn’t want that. 
It wasn’t that what those couples had wasn’t love, it just wasn’t love in a way Will could understand, it wasn’t love Will felt from those sort of exchanges. He didn’t understand the idea of “butterflies in your stomach”, love wasn’t nerves, love was like coming home after a long day, love was the way someone could say your name like it was divine, love was the way someone would smirk at you when you were missing the point, love was not being afraid to cry in front of them,  it was knowing you could show up to them with any problem and instead of leaving you they would research the ins and outs of it in all their entirety. 
The coffee maker makes a sound, Nico lifts his head of off Will’s body and the deep browns of his eyes are like the freshly turned dirt of fields in planting season, and Will feels like there’s a garden growing in his chest that Nico feeds. Nico sits straight on the counter and pulls his legs up and sits cross legged on the counter as he pulls out his hairband, and runs his fingers through his hair before pulling it back up without all the flyaways. 
Will moves towards the coffee machine, pours it into two cups, and sets one on the counter beside Nico before making his way to the fridge to grab creamer. Nico’s watching him right now, but there’s no need for talking; there will be talking in a minute. Talking about Will’s schedule for the week, talk of whatever project Nico is working on right now, talk of what they should do for dinner the rest of the week, little sweet nothings, and eventually they’ll make their way to the couch to watch some tv and maybe later in the day they’ll play some sort of game or something as well.
So yeah, maybe "light" and "dark" were polar opposites and some people would have walked out on the word dumbass rather than immediately loving it, but Will liked it- everyday was a game of sorts, a new adventure, all with Nico who he loved. Coming home from work wasn’t necessarily about the place Will lived but knowing Nico would be there for him to see was the point  of going home, home was wherever Nico was and some small part of Will hoped eternity was real in some manner.
Will remembered when Michael had died thinking nothing could possibly get worse, and in some ways he was kind of right; he had ended up with some sort of demigod style fairy tale ending with the man he loved, and that was ten times better than anything fifteen year old Will would have hoped for.
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thorne93 · 4 years ago
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The Stars Made Us (Part 1)
Prompt: In this world, you’re one of the “lucky” ones who got a soulmate, but what if the universe gives you more than you bargained for?
(Prompt challenge -- You live in a world where your soulmate can write on their skin and you will get the writing on your own and vice versa. Where they can wash away the ink on their own skin, however, the writing is forever scarred onto your skin until you meet face to face)
Word Count: 1857
Warnings: angst and language throughout
Notes: This was supposed to be for @sorryimacrapwriter and their challenge like a year ago, I think? I still loved the prompt though and have been working on this story for quite some time. This aesthetic was made by @dontshootmespence, thank you so much! Beta’d by @like-a-bag-of-potatoes, couldn’t have done it without you, as well as @carryonmyswansong and @arrow-guy and @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo
Also, I’ve never really liked the whole soulmate AU thing idea, but this felt so right and it was amazing to write. I hope y’all love it too!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Ever since you were little, you’d heard the legends. The legend of soulmates. It was as common as Santa Claus or winning the lottery. Some weren’t sure they believed it, because although it was real, it was so rare that people didn’t know how to feel about it. Perhaps it was like believing in ghosts. Documented cases, proof, eye witness accounts weren’t enough to sway some skeptics. Yet, it had to be real because there was a registry, much like when you go to get your license or file a birth certificate or a social security number. There was a system in place to keep track of soulmates.
While others, mainly hopeless romantics, truly believed in soulmates. You heard whispers of it when people talked of their grandparents “perfect marriage” and how they just had to be soulmates. You’d heard some kids on the playground swear their cousin just got their soulmate. 
Now, it wasn’t for everyone. It was a rarity, and much like winning the lottery, it only happened to a select few. 
The few were seemingly random. Everyone from celebrities and CEOs down to starving artists and people who managed grocery stores. It touched all races, religions, and economic status. It was global. It wasn’t unheard of for a South American woman to be mated with a French man. Or one Australian to find their mate within Africa. 
Stories of epic journeys to find their love and mate had been told as bedtime stories. Heart wrenching stories of soulmates who never got to be together. 
The idea of soulmates was so endowed in the world and in history that it was rare enough to be celebrated, but common enough to be easily accepted. That’s why, when people walked with scars all over their body, formed in words, people didn’t even think twice.
That’s how it worked. On people’s 18th birthday, their soulmate was assigned, if they had one. Writing on any part of your skin would show up on your mate’s skin as a scar, and vice-versa. For two days out of the year, their birthdays, they could communicate this way. 
The only downside was that you couldn’t give out your information to your mate -- that part was up to the universe. When they needed you most, their name and address would show up on your arm. It could be life or death, it could be a mental breakdown, it could be that they’re hurt and need a friend. But until then, you shouldn’t share personal information. People had done it before, met their mates before the universe decided it was time, and awful things tended to happen. 
But if they were patient enough, willing enough to wait for the right day, it would all be worth it and they were usually guaranteed a happy life. 
Even though you grew up with this knowledge, you’d let it fall to the wayside in your mind. School and friendships took precedence, and you led your life normally. Every now and again, like on birthdays, a fleeting thought of the prospect of a soulmate would run through your head, but for the most part, you filed it away as a fantasy. 
That was, until your best friend Jenny reminded you of it on your 18th birthday.
You were having a party at your house. A group of about ten friends and you went out and played mini-golf, then had pizza at your house with cake and gifts, then watched a new movie. Your parents gave you money to buy a lottery ticket for fun, and gave you some money for college. 
Nearly everyone had gone home, and your parents already wished you a happy birthday with hugs and kisses before going off to bed. All that was left were you and Jenny, and she was about to walk out the door.
“I’m just saying, you’re 18 now,” she stated as she walked. 
“Yeah, I gathered that when I counted 18 candles on the cake, what’s your point?” you asked with a smile.
“My point is, maybe you should try and see if you’ve got a soulmate.” 
You shook your head and rolled your eyes. “Jenny, the odds of me having a soulmate are like 1 in a million. It’s a silly idea.”
“That’s been true. You know it and I know it. What’s the harm in finding out? I just had a cousin last year that found out. She wrote some appointment down when she was 21, her soulmate got it and wrote back.” 
You perched an eyebrow at her. “How romantic.” 
“I’m serious! Come on, how cool would it be?” 
“It would be kind of neat,” you admitted sheepishly, grinning. “But if no one writes back--”
“Then you haven’t lost anything, and you’ll find someone great later in life. No harm, no foul. Right?” She gave you that super convincing gorgeous smile before dropping her pushiness. “Alright, alright. Just think about it, okay? Happy birthday,” she said before hugging you tightly. 
“Thanks,” you said back.
With that, you cleaned up the kitchen and living room, gathered your gifts, and headed up to bed.  You pulled on your pajamas and crawled into your bed, you sat there, thinking about what Jenny had said.
What would be the harm in writing on your arm? If no one spoke back, it was no big deal, right? 
But if they didn’t write back, would you be saddened? You’d always secretly hoped you had a soulmate out there, so to find out you didn’t have one would be a little devastating. Of course, your life wouldn’t be over, and like Jenny said, you could always find a partner just like you normally would. 
Ultimately, it was just a schoolgirl fantasy… but what if it wasn't? you wondered idly as you sat with your leg propped up on the bed. 
You grabbed a pen off your nightstand and took a deep breath, trying to think of the best thing to ask - this would be scarred on them indefinitely after all. 
You thought, and you thought, pondering anything you could say. But what do you say to a potential soulmate? Finally, you decided there was no perfect way to go about this, and you put your pen to your arm, writing: Is anyone out there? 
You held your breath for a second, wondering if you’d get a scar somewhere in response, even bracing for some form of pain, but after a few moments -- nothing. Nothing happened. 
You sighed. Well, it was a long shot anyway.
After lying in bed disappointed for a while, a feather light sensation came crawling across your arm. You frowned for a split second before glancing down and seeing the letters. Instantly, a grin grew wide across your face. 
“Hi there. : )” 
You wanted to jump for joy. Immediately, your heart soared at the sight. Someone out there was actually fated to be yours? You couldn’t believe this. Why you? You weren’t special. 
“This is my email, if you would like to talk more,” you offered, scribbling on your skin before adding in your email. You opted for email since any other form of communication you might be tempted to find out their name.
Within two minutes, a ping noise came from your computer. You sprang from your bed, not even caring that you were the epitome of a school girl right that second. You dashed the cursor over to your inbox and read the new email. 
“Hello. So I suppose this means we’re soulmates...”
“I suppose it does,” you wrote back, a giant grin on your face. 
“We should probably get some of the formalities out of the way. What should I call you? How old are you?” 
“You can call me… Y/F/I. And I’m 18, today is my birthday. I’m sure you’ve heard the stories of people giving out their information before their time. I think we should stick to initials.” 
One minute later, in the same penmanship, you felt something on your bicep -- Happy Birthday
The smile on your face lit back up. 
“That’s my gift to you. And yes, I have heard of the stories. I would rather be safe than sorry as well. You can call me X. I’m 21. I’m in college, actually in graduate school.”
“Wow, that’s amazing. You’re already in grad school? How? What’s your area of study? I’m going into college in the fall - psychology.” 
“I think I should be surprised, but I’m not. That’s what my PhD will be in,” he informed. “As well as genetics and biophysics.” 
Well, the universe is funny, isn’t it? 
You continued to read his message. 
“Long story short, I graduated college at 16. Harvard, if you can believe it.”
Instantly, you were hit with a wave of surprise and shock. Your soulmate was a genius? He was a Harvard grad at 16? In what universe was that possible?
“That’s… really impressive. God I wish I could do that. It’d be amazing to be already done with college. I haven’t even gone there yet but it seems like a lot of work and a lot of stress. Hopefully, the pay off will be worth it though.” 
“What are you wanting to do with your degree?”
“Psychiatry.”
“A noble profession.” 
“I think so. I’d like to help people, as corny as that sounds.”
“I don’t think it sounds corny at all. Quite admirable, in fact. If people didn’t feel that way, we wouldn’t have good people in the world.”
He already thought you were a good person? you wondered, warmth spreading over you.
“I guess that is one way to look at it. I just want to help people and be a voice for people who don’t exactly have a lot of advocates.”
“That’s precisely why we get into these professions, darling,” he wrote.
Darling? Wow, so far, this guy was the jackpot. 
“I suppose it is. So what are some of your favorite books, if you don’t mind me asking? And movies. I feel like a quick way to get to know someone pretty well is through their interests.”
“Indeed it is,” he replied. “I happen to favor T.H. White’s The Once and Future King, as far as books go and I don’t particularly have time for many films.”
“Oh, I see,” you started, and then explained your favorite books and film. 
He had asked you why you liked those and you went into a rather lengthy explanation of why you enjoyed them more than others. After that you two talked music, actually having quite a lot in common there. 
You stayed up all night emailing, until the sun came up. It wasn’t until the glare hit your computer screen that you realized it, either. You didn’t want to end the magical evening, but you did need rest, and you were sure as a grad student, he needed all he could get as well. 
That morning you went to sleep with this newfound relief. It was one less thing you’d have to worry about in life. Worry about finding a mate, a partner for life. They were already there, already perfect, already waiting…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forever Tag: 
@essie1876
@magpiegirl80
@letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked
@iamwarrenspeace
@marvel-imagines-yes-please
@superwholocked527
@missinstantgratification
@thejemersoninferno
@rda1989
@munlis
@thefridgeismybestie
@bubblyanarocks3
@igiveupicantthinkofausername
@kaliforniacoastalteens
@feelmyroarrrr
@kaeling
@friendlyneighbourhoodweirdo 
@damalseer
@heyitscam99
@yknott81
@sorryimacrapwriter
@glitterquadricorn
@xxqueenofisolationxx 
@little-dis-kaalista-pythonissama
@bittersweetunicorm
@alyssaj23 
@sea040561
@princess76179
@thisismysecrethappyplace
@sarahp879
@malfoysqueen14
@ellallheart
@breezy1415
@marvelmayo
@lyniboy
@paintballkid711
Charles Xavier
@bohemianrhapsody86
@lenawiinchester​
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melisusthewee · 3 years ago
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WIP Wednesday - Let’s Talk Music
Thank you to @cleverblackcat @kittynomsdeplume @noire-pandora and @morganlefaye79 for tagging me!
I don’t have any writing to really offer today.  I’ve been trying to work on that Haven fic but unfortunately Aloysius hasn’t been co-operating with me despite all my best efforts to make him speak.  I may take a break from writing and pivot towards completing some art memes, but Wednesday just sort of crept up on me and here we are.  So instead, I’m sharing something that both is but also isn’t a work in progress?
It’s “in progress” because while I’m happy with where it currently is, I’ve said that about playlists and soundtracks before and later changed them.  I’ve worked hard on this and talked several friends’ ears off about songs I’ve heard or artists that seemed to work and thanks to their feedback I think this is a really good one.  It’s gone through several edits as well, and may potentially even go through more down the road.  So I’m saying this counts for today.
If you give it a listen (and I hope you do because I’m very proud of it so far), I hope you enjoy it and maybe discover an artist you didn’t know before.  It clocks in at around 51 minutes and features 13 tracks which span Quinn Trevelyan’s story and important events of the main game through to Trespasser.
If you are interested, below the cut is a list of tracks and a brief blurb or description about who or what they’re meant to represent.  I was going to go into things in more depth and talk about how I built it, why I picked the songs I did, and the B-Sides that were left on the cutting room floor, but after realizing I had written nearly 4 pages about just as many songs, I realized it was too much for anyone to read.  So below is just a very brief summary and I think that most of the music would speak for itself, but I’m happy to expand more on anything that anyone finds either interesting… or confusing.  (There is also Solas content because I knew a few of you love that.)
You have to click on this sentence to go to the playlist because Tumblr’s coding for “Read More” seems to be conflicting with the HTML code to embed a functional playlist.  Because of course it is.
Quinn’s tarot card is the Wheel of Fortune as his story is a series of unpredictable highs and lows.  What the Maker giveth, He also taketh away.  The playlist follows that trend of highs and lows with upbeat songs followed by darker or more mellow ones.  Whenever I create a playlist, I try to think of a general tone or sound that I want to be carried through the soundtrack.  I want the overall genre or sound to tell the story as much as the individual songs.  Because of that, you’ll see artists repeat a couple of times, and when they do it’s always intentional.  You’ll also notice that most of the vocalists are male.  This was again intentional because this is Quinn’s story, and he’s a man.  They are his songs and I wanted the vocals to reflect that.
The Cult of Dionysus - pre-Conclave Quinn
Quinn at his most basic and stereotypical before any character development happens whatsoever - poppish, upbeat, and maybe just a little obnoxious.  He smokes, he drinks, he fucks, and nothing else matters.
The Sound of Silence - Aloysius’ Theme
I like Aloysius as a more practical view and examination of Quinn and the cult that grows around him.  He affords an opportunity to look at Quinn both as the Herald but also as just a person.  He is stoic and mild-mannered, a dutiful soldier, and an excellent foil for Quinn.  This is also absolutely a reference to an Arrested Development joke.
Isle of Dogs - Quinn’s true theme
Quinn is a walking disaster constantly falling victim to his own hubris.  There’s a morose sort of resentment to the lyrics, of someone who is constantly struggling against the tide.  In a lot of ways, this is basically a reaction or push back to all the crap I have put him through.
Providence - “In Hushed Whispers”
There are no Templars here.  The first few lines relate a lot to the dismissal the fledgling Inquisition receives from what remains of the Chantry, but the rest of the lyrics are very much about the mages and Fiona’s dealings with the Venatori.
Seven Devils - “In Your Heart Shall Burn
No male vocals in this one to symbolize the change in perspective.  This is both a bit of an easy and obvious choice for this story beat.  Female vocals for Corypheus might seem strange, but when I created my Warden’s soundtrack I tended to use powerful choruses and female vocals for anything related to Blight, Archdemons, or the darkspawn.  I carried that idea over to this as Corypheus is one of the seven Magisters.
Caesar - becoming the Inquisitor
This is a softer and quiet interlude in the wake of the loss of Haven and struggle through the snow.  If the previous song marks the end of the first act, this song marks the beginning of the second.
King - “Here Lies the Abyss”
In my written world state, Alistair is both the king and the Grey Warden contact (this goes back to that longform fic I am working on).  I suppose it’s a bit unfair because in the end that has a major impact on why Quinn makes the decision he does at Adamant (a rather threatening letter from the Warden helps too).  Think of this as a duet between Quinn and Hawke.
My Type - the love interest
“Here Lies the Abyss” was completed first, then a romance triggered, then “Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts”.  This is that sort of inbetween interlude and is very much inspired by how I may have flirted with multiple characters a little too much and basically triggered several romances at once.  I also went into Quinn’s playthrough having no idea who I was going to romance and just let him shop around.  And it came down to a coin flip in the end, so “you have a pulse and you are breathing” is pretty much the only standards he has.
Boheme Supreme - party at Halamshiral
All I have to say is that I love techno swing, every single lyric in this song is perfect, and I want you all to picture Quinn Trevelyan walking into the Winter Palace with his Inner Circle entourage around him, dressed up in that outfit I drew with that peacock feathered cap and having a drink in his hand throughout the entire night’s affair.
Hell’s Coming With Me - “Doom Upon All the World”
This is the climax of the main game, the rematch between Quinn and Corypheus which I have to imagine is more impressive in concept than it was in game.  I chose the dialogue option when Corypheus calls Quinn an imposter, “I am the Maker’s chosen” as his final challenge.  Sometimes it’s easy to forget that this main is actually very Andrastian.  But he is, and the lyrics, “I am the righteous hand of God/And I am the Devil that you forgot/And I told you one day will see/I’ll be back I guarantee/And that Hell’s coming with me” are the perfect declaration.
Paradise - Jaws of Hakkon & The Descent
Another interlude song.  If the previous one is triumphant than this one is the beginning of a bad turn.  In the interim between the events of the main game and the Exalted Council, things begin to go wrong in little ways.  His relationship with Cassandra begins to break down, eventually ending in the two of them having frequent spats and going their separate ways after returning from the Frostback Basin.  This song is deceptively sarcastic about how good things are.
I Still Love You, Judas - Solas’ Betrayal
Solas… oh, Solas.  Does this song indicate a very complicated and layered relationship between Quinn and Solas?  Yes! Have I attempted to unpack any of this?  Nope!  Have fun with this one!
Tagging for this week: @kita-lavellan @silvanils @nivenor-krosis @drag-on-age @rosella-writes @inquisitoracorn
Battle Cries - Quinn and Cassandra
I saved this one for the very end because it is a story within a story.  It is sad and bittersweet, but also not.  This entire thing feels to me like a duet between Quinn and Cass on what was good, what could never last, and that it’s all over now but that’s okay.  Because “this isn’t a breakup, dear heart, it’s a season finale.”  Does this mean that Quinn sounds like Joey Batey when he sings?  Sure, why not.
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Fairytale Romance: An engagement interview!!! HIRH Prince Imperial Darius and his Fiance Miss Alysha Estep sit down for an interview with Selena Murdoch!
Marasean International broadcasts from The Imperial Palace a live interview with HIRH Prince Imperial Darius and Miss Alysha Estep.
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Selena Murdoch: YIRH, Miss Estep, Thank you for agreeing to sit down with me today and congratulations on your engagement. I'm sure many Maraseans agree with me when I say we are very excited for the up and coming nuptials.
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HIRH: Thank you Ms Murdoch.
SM: So I guess the first question should be, which every one is dying to know, when did you two start dating? We know you met whilst you were both at University, but when did you know there was potentially something blooming between you?
HIRH: Well yes. We met during an Eco Rally, it was one of the few occasions our respective universities weren't competing against each other. Alysha actually wouldn't give me the time of day. She simply brushed me off at the Rally. It wasn't till a few days later at a convention when I tired my luck again.
Alysha: Believe it or not, I hadn't realised who Darius was until one of my roommates at the time told me that evening. To tell you the truth, I was shocked and didn't believe her until Darius found me at the Unified Marasea convention a few days later and asked me on a date.
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Alysha: I'd say, it wasn't until the fifth date and, maybe... two, two and a half months of speaking via telephone, video calls and text messages did we feel that... well spark, where we got really comfortable with each other.
HIRH: I think I fell in love with Alysha pretty quickly, maybe after the third date.
Alysha: Darius actually said I love you first. This was maybe after 8, 9 months of dating.
HIRH: Which was fine. Dating a member of my family is never easy nor straight forward. Alysha didn't want to rush into anything, we both didn't. And rightly so, Alysha also wanted some guarantees that her life wouldn't be turned completely upside down. I was glad to give it to her.
Alysha: Yes, Darius was very understanding, and patient might I add. Admittedly, I was initially terrified, but, Darius was so attentive and caring, it didn't take me long to fall for him and to fall hard.
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SM: And the rest of the rest is history?
HIRH: Yes, almost five years later, the rest is history.
SM: So you took your time?
HIRH: Yes, I didn't want to push Alysha, because I knew she was special, and... I wanted to give her an out.
SM: An out?
HIRH: Yes, an out. As a member of my Family, our whole lives are dedicated to public service, which can sometimes leave time for little else.
Alysha: Darius did explain to me, after about two years of dating and a couple of months before I met TIRM's what it would mean to join the Family. It was already clear by that point that the relationship was serious, if not quickly getting there. Of course we have discussed this in more detail since.
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SM: And we know around that time you had just moved in together. There were reports about a number of break-ins and security had to be increased. Could you tell us a little more about that? I must have been a difficult time for you.
HIRH: Well we won't go into too much detail about that, but yes it was a difficult time for me, for us, but especially for Alysha. We had kept the relationship under the radar pretty well until that point. We were going out in public a bit more often, and with that comes the increased likelihood that we will be spotted. Hence the Lady in Red edition in the Marasean Times. After that, another news outlet produced what can only be described as a resume on Alysha from what could be garnered on the internet. Thank fully not much. But there was enough trivial information to stimulate some interest into who Alysha was, or maybe because there was so little. Some employees of a news outlet that shall remain unnamed, where... overzealous, and saw an opportunity to be the first to ''spill the beans'' on the Imperial Prince's girlfriend. We won't say anymore on the subject...
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SM: Fair enough. So how long was it before you introduced Alysha to the Imperial Royal Family and visa versa?
HIRH: As you know, we were dating for two years before I introduced Alysha to my parents. It was actually my Uncle ( the Imperial Duke of Sulani) , who met Alysha first. By the time of our graduation I had already relocated to where we live now and was spending most of my time in Sulani by that point. It happened organically really. Alysha was there for a visit and he just dropped by with the family, my cousins and my Aunt. We're not very far from each other, maybe a 10 minute walk. We're dropping in on each other all the time. It wasn't planned, it just so happened that Alysha was there that time around.
Alysha: Darius' Uncle, Aunt and cousins were all really welcoming and we ended up spending the rest of my stay, if think I was staying for two weeks at the time?
HIRH: Yes about that.
Alysha: We ended up spending the rest of it with them.
HIRH: That was the first year of dating, a couple of months after that it was my brother (Imperial Duke of Linacre) and Lorna, he had been dying to meet Alysha, so they invited us around to dinner. My little sister (HIRH Princess Imperial Erika Cara) was there too. And then it was Nerina and Greyson (TIRH The Grand Imperial Duchess and Duke of Marasea), again for dinner. A couple of months after that, it was time to meet the parents.
SM: So the Christmas get way to Terra House last Christmas wasn't the first time you introduced Alysha to the family?
Alysha: No, I had met them all before that point.
SM: Did you have any worries about meeting them Miss Estep?
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Alysha: No, not at all. I was more worried about the protocols and addressing everyone by the correct titles. Once you get past that there was really nothing to worry about. Darius only ever referrers to them like any other son would, sister, brother, mother father ect... To me I was meeting his family.
SM: And what about your Family Miss Estep?
Alysha: It was within the first year of dating that Darius met my sisters. I was living with them during my last year of University. So, it was easily done. Darius came over and we ordered in some take away and that was it really, it was a really normal night.
SM: Your sisters? Are you not an orphan?
HIRH: That is an in inappropriate and personal question...
Alysha: No, Darius it's okay. Yes, I am an orphan, but family isn't always the one you are born with, sometimes it is the one you choose and make for yourself. So yes, my sisters, I have four, are my family. I make no distinction between them and those I may be biological related to.
SM: I'm sorry if I caused any offense, it was not my intention. What you have said is very moving... apologies.
Alysha: Thank you...
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SM: So the wedding, is there anything you can tell us about it? Will it be a private affair?
HIRH: There is not much we can tell you about it now, we haven't even decided ourselves...
SM: Nothing at all?
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Alysha: Sorry no, unfortunately everyone will have to wait. We can say that there will be announcement made soon.
SM: Okay, we will all, no doubt, be eagerly waiting for the news. YIRH, after you are married, have you made any decisions in regards to your position in the Imperial Family? We've known for years that you have wanted to step back for a more private life like you Uncle, The Imperial Duke of Sulani. Has that changed now that you have met Alysha?
HIRH: Well yes, yes it has...
SM: And???
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HIRH: I, well we, have decided to stay and serve as working Imperial Royals. I realised, when Alysha and I attended a couple of engagements together, that what I was really missing was a partner. A weight of the responsibility is shared when you are able to perform you public duties with a partner. My brother found it, my sister found it and my mother found it too. I have found my partner, in life, service and in love in Alysha.
SM: Unbelievable, wonderful. Such a beautiful sentiment. What about the charity in Sulani, you were setting up with HIRM, Prince-Consort Ngata?
HIRH: That will still go ahead. We are still dedicated to setting up a charity there. We will have our main residence near to Mother (HIRM Empress Sheva) to be of service, but will split our time between here and Sulani. We are determined to make this work.
SM: Wonderful! That's a perfect way to end this interview. Thank you so much for your time. May I offer you my congratulations once again!
HIRH: Thank you...
Alysha: Thank you...
Phew! That took forever to write, I hope you all enjoy!!! Fingers crossed. It's a long one, but I saw no way to shorten it... :)
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Hey Guys! So this is a one shot story request from an Anon, this story is about Mateo and Gabe teaming up together to plan the best sweethearts day for their girlfriends Naomi and Carla. This is my first time writing a ship edit, especially with the EOA Fandom heh. So I apologize if it does not come out exactly like you wanted, i hope you enjoy/like this story. Happy Reading!
Sweethearts Day Madness
It was a beautiful day in Avalor, the whole kingdom was buzzing because this was the second time they were able to celebrate Sweethearts day now that Suriki has been defeated. On every corner you could see Merchant stands selling Flowers, Chocolates, and Jewelry, yes it was a very special day for couples to show their partner how much they love and appreciate them.
Gabe was finishing his shift as a Royal Guard, he saw and heard a familiar voice and face calling his name.
“Hey Gabe!” Mateo said with a wave.
“Hey Mateo, what up?” Gabe asked.
“I was going to ask you if you were going to do anything for Sweethearts day? Since you and Naomi are dating now, plus this is your first year being together.” Mateo said with a small chuckle.
“Of course I’m going to celebrate Sweethearts day with Naomi, this is our first year together. I want to show her how much she means to me, and how I appreciate all she has done for us. Now i just have to plan something special, something that she will remember but what?” Gabe said tapping his chin in thought.
“Wait isn’t this the first year you and Carla are together too? Why aren’t you planning something for her?” Gabe asked with his arms crossed.
“Well, your right. It is Carla and i first year together, but i came to ask you what you were going to do for Naomi? Hoping maybe i could get an idea as to what i could do for Carla.”
Gabe and Mateo stayed silent for a few moments thinking what they could plan for their Girlfriends. Mateo was the first one to break the silence with a snap of his fingers,“Ohh i have an idea! How about we write little notes with clues inside leading them to a special spot where they would meet us? Then we could surprise them with our gifts and a special dinner for them? Mateo Suggested.
“Hey that’s not a bad idea Mateo, I’m sure the girls will love it. If we work together we could have everything ready before night fall, What do you say? We work together to make this the best Sweethearts day for Naomi and Carla? Gabe asked stretching out his hand.
“Deal” Mateo said shaking Gabe’s hand.
“Great! So where do we start first?” Gabe asked.
“Hmm well we have to find the perfect romantic place for us to set up everything, any ideas?” Mateo asked.
“Ooh how about the royal garden? I’m sure Queen Elena won’t mind if we use it. We could set up some tables with Carla and Naomi favorite flowers in the middle, we can also get some Mariachis like Naomi had at her Quinceanera.” Gabe suggested.
“That’s a great idea Gabe, and i can light up the sky with some fireworks with a special spell for a grand finally.” Mateo said.
“Great! I’ll start setting the place up with everything we need for the dinner, and you can get started on the notes with clues and maybe some riddles they have to solve to make it more interesting. Then we can meet up in the garden and wait for the girls to arrive. Gabe stated.
“Great, I’ll see you later then.” Mateo said with a nod walking away to get his tasks done.
Gabe headed to the kitchen, He asked the Royal Chef if he could make Naomi and Carlas favorite food with their favorite dessert on the side. The Royal Chef nodded with agreement telling Gabe that he would have the food ready and packed up for them within the hour. Gabe smiled giving a thank you and headed to the village market.
“Wow look at all these people, This is the busiest I’ve seen the village since Navidad.” Gabe said to himself.
Gabe continued to walk seeing merchants around every corner promoting their products, he passes by Dona Paloma shop. Dona Paloma spots Gabe and calls out to him. “Gabe!” Dona Paloma said waving her hand.
“Hello Dona Paloma, what can i do for you?” Gabe asked her.
“Well a little Birdy told me that you and Naomi are a pair now, I have a few specials going on that would be a perfect gift for her.” Dona Paloma said opening her fan and fanning herself.
Gabe tried his best not to roll his eyes, he knew Dona Paloma was just all about business and making money. Gabe pondered for a few moments, he didn’t have a gift for Naomi yet and Dona Paloma did have a few nice things that Naomi would possibly like.
“Yes Naomi and i are dating, this is our first year together.” Gabe said.
“Well then that’s great! If you haven’t gotten Naomi a gift yet, i know the perfect gift for her.” Dona Paloma said with a smirk.
“Alright Dona Paloma you got me, what do you have that would be a perfect gift for Naomi?” Gabe said lifting his hands in defeat.
“Come inside and I’ll show you” Dona Paloma said signaling him to follow her.
Gabe followed Dona Paloma inside the shop, His eyes darted from corner to corner of the shop seeing all the merchandise she had, Dona Paloma grabs a soft blue velvet box and opens it reveling a necklace with a crystal diamond and a set of of blue diamond earrings. “This just came in today, I think this would be a perfect gift for Naomi.” Dona said handing Gabe the box.
Gabe takes the box from Dona Paloma and takes a closer look at the set of jewelry, he had to admit it was beautiful definitely something Naomi didn’t have.
“This is a very nice gift and i know Naomi would love it but, she likes sailing so i was thinking of getting her something she could use when she goes sailing.” Gabe said putting down the box.
“That would be nice but, Naomi is a sailor I’m sure she would have everything a sailor would need. This is something you know for sure she doesn’t have and would love. You don’t want to risk getting her something that she already has and making yourself look bad on your first Sweethearts Day together do you?” Dona asked closing her fan.
Gabe stayed quiet thinking to himself, Dona Paloma had a point. What if he got Naomi something she already had, he knew she would like whatever he gave her but it would look bad that he got his girlfriend something that she already had, especially on their first Sweethearts day together.
“Alright Dona Paloma you convinced me I’ll take it.” Gabe said paying her.
“You made the right choice, I guarantee Naomi will love her gift.” Dona said putting the box in a small gift bag handing it to Gabe.
“Thank you.” Gabe said with a nod walking out the door.
Meanwhile back at the Castle Mateo was setting the clues all around the place the girls would always be. “There this is the last of them” Mateo said placing the last clue inside a pot of flowers. “Now i just have to finish making Carla’s gift and then i can go meet Gabe.” Mateo said walking back to his shop.
Mateo opened the door to his shop and opened a small secret door next to the bookshelf. “Zapota” Mateo said hitting his Tamborita opening the secret door revealing another Tamborita that was red and yellow with a beautiful red rose in the middle.
“Now i just have to add the finishing touches to the Tamborita and it will be ready” Mateo said grabbing it and putting it on the table. He aimed his Tamborita at the other Tamborita, “Inscipcion” Mateo said hitting his Tamborita.
Carla’s Tamborita began to glow and float in the air, a thin gold line of magic began engraving something on the handle. After a few moments the magic began to disappear causing the Tamborita to fall gently to the table, “Its Perfect!” Mateo said with a smile as he grabbed the Tamborita analyzing it closely. 
“Now i can meet Gabe” Mateo said grabbing the Tamborita and putting it in a gift bag.
Meanwhile in the Royal Garden Gabe was setting up the tables and chairs, adding a few decorations around the trees, making it look presentable for when the girls arrive.
“Its looking great if i do say so myself.” Gabe said proudly.
“Now I’m just missing a banner saying Happy Sweethearts Day.” Gabe said grabbing a banner he had bought in the market.
The royal chef came out with pushing a cart full of the food Gabe had requested. “Wow this looks amazing! And it smells delicious Thank you!” Gabe said smelling the aroma coming form the food.
The Royal Chef gave a smile thanking Gabe for the compliment. Gabe grabbed the banner and begins to climb the ladder to hang it across to where the entrance of the garden was. A few moments later when Gabe was done setting everything up Mateo arrived, “Hey Gabe, wow this looks great! The girls will love it.” Mateo said in awe taking in all the decorations and scenery.
“Thanks bro, i think the girls will like it too. Did you finish everything you needed to do?” Gabe asked him.
“Yes i did, i even got to pick up some flowers and a card for Carla too. What about you? Did you finish what you needed to do?” Mateo asked putting down his gifts on the table.
“Yep i got Naomi her gift and I finished decorating so everything should be set and ready for when the girls arrive, the Mariachi should be here soon.” Gabe said with assurance.
“Great, now i just have practice my spell to light the sky up with fireworks.” Mateo said pulling out his Tamborita with style.
Mateo aimed his Tamborita to the sky, The royal chef began to add the plates to the table trying to avoid Mateo. As the Royal Chef began walking to the table he did not see the rock in front of him causing him to trip and bump into Mateo causing him to say the wrong spell. “Chihufiti” Mateo said hitting the Tamborita as he fell to the ground. The spell flew out of Mateo Tamborita hitting the banner instead of the sky, the banner began to catch fire, ‘Ahh Mateo! What happened?!” Gabe asked shocked as he saw the banner on fire.
“Someone bumped into me making me aim and say the wrong spell.” Mateo said picking himself up.
“Mateo the Banner is on fire, we have to put it out before it falls on the trees causing a bigger fire and hurting people” Gabe said pointing to the banner.
“I got it, i can fix this, i know a spell that can help” Mateo said raising up his Tamborita. Before Mateo could say the magic spell the banner fell on top of the tables causing the flowers in the middle to catch fire. “Ooh No!” Mateo shouted putting his hands on his head stressfully.
“Quick we have to put it out before the other flowers catch on fire, I’ll get some water to put it out.” Gabe said running to get a water hose.
“I’ll help you” Mateo said running right behind him.
Back at the Castle Naomi had just finished her Chancellor duties, “I’m finally done for today, who knew being Chancellor would be so busy sometimes. I haven’t even spent any time with Gabe, and its Sweethearts day. I better go find him, he should be done with his Captain duties too.” Naomi said making her way to find Gabe.
Carla was walking around the castle looking for Mateo, I haven’t seen Mateo all day, I wonder where he could be?” Carla thought to herself.
“Hmm he’s probably finishing up some kind of potion or something, i better go find him if we want to spend the rest of Sweethearts day together.” Carla said walking towards Mateo’s workshop.
As she was walking she saw Naomi walking the same direction she was. “Hey Naomi, you done with you chancellor duties for the day?” Carla asked.
“Hey Carla, yes i am done for the day. By any chance have you seen Gabe anywhere? I haven’t seen him all day, he didn’t even have come to say Happy Sweethearts day to me, its not like Gabe to forget something special like today. Naomi asked puzzled.
“No I haven’t seen Gabe, but i am looking for Mateo to. He didn’t come to say Happy Sweethearts day to me either. Maybe they are together? They are always hanging out and working together, maybe if we find Mateo we could find Gabe too, do you want to come with me and we can find our lost boyfriends together?” Carla asked her.
“That’s a great idea, count me in.” Naomi said with a smile.
“Alright, i was thinking we check his lab first and see if they are there. He’s usually there most of the time practicing his magic and coming up with new potions and spells.” Carla stated.
“Okay I’ll follow you Carla, lead the way” Naomi said letting Carla take the lead.
Carla smiled and made her way to Mateo workshop Naomi walking right behind her. Carla and Naomi made it to Mateo workshop seeing the door was opened, they walked in and saw that neither Mateo or Gabe were there. “Well they are not here, where could they be?” Naomi said.
“I’m not sure where else Mateo would be doing, it’s Sweethearts day and he never came to even say “Hi.” Carla said with a hint of sadness in her voice.
“I’m sure Mateo didn’t forget what day today is, maybe he’s just planning something special for you and will come find you when he’s done.” Naomi said putting a hand on her shoulder.
“Thank you Naomi” Carla said with a soft smile.
“Hey what’s that?” Naomi said a piece of paper with two orchids taped to it catching her eye.
Carla set her gaze to where Naomi was looking, she grabbed the paper and the two orchids. “Dear Naomi and Carla, we knew you would be looking for us. Gabe and i set some notes around the castle with riddles you have to solve that will lead you to a special place Gabe and i planned, Every riddle you solve will leave you to another riddle leading you to your destination. Love Mateo and Gabe. P.S. The orchids are for you and Naomi.” Carla read aloud with a smile.
“Aww they didn’t forget, they are just trying to make it special for us.” Naomi said grabbing one orchid putting it in her hair.
“Yeah i guess they didn’t, has Mateo always gone all out for someone he likes before?” Carla asked putting the orchid on the side of her hair.
“Well to be honest i know he had a huge crush on Elena and he was always trying to impress her, but he never anything like this.” Naomi answered.
“Ooh really? Well i guess that makes us both special if they are going through all this for us.” Carla said with small chuckle.
“Yes i guess it does, so what is the first riddle we have to solve?” Naomi asked.
“It says, What is mine but only you can have?” Carla read aloud.
“Hmm what is mine but only you can have?” Naomi recited in thought,
“Well if he’s speaking physically it could be anything.” Carla stated tapping her lip in thought.
“Hmm, Ooh i got it!” Naomi said snapping her fingers.
“What is it?” Carla asked curiously.
“Well i figured that it couldn’t be anything Physically because the only thing Mateo and Gabe have is their sword and Tamborita. Stuff they wouldn’t give us or we already have, so my guess is their heart. Because it’s theirs, but they give it to us and were the only ones who have something that is theirs. So the answer is heart” Naomi explained.
“Wow Naomi your right! lets see if that’s the answer. Wait, Where do we find a heart?” Carla asked looking around.
Naomi looked around the workshop looking for something that resembled a heart, Carla began to look around when a certain potion caught her eye. “Hey Naomi come look.” Carla said calling her over.
“What you find?” Naomi asked.
Carla grabbed a heart shaped vile with some kind of pink liquid inside. “Why would Mateo have this in his workshop?” Carla said opening the vile and sniffing it.
“This smells like my favorite perfume Mateo gave me on our first date.” Carla said.
“Hey look their is another one, and it has a not attached to it.” Naomi said grabbing the second heart vile and grabbing the paper.
“It says, congratulations you figured out the first riddle, the two heart shaped viles contain the perfumes Gabe and i gave you both on our first date. If your ready to solve the second riddle flip the paper.” Naomi read aloud.
“Naomi this one must be yours.” Carla said handing her the heart shaped Vile with blue/green liquid inside.
Naomi grabs the perfume taking off the lid and smells its aroma, “Yep this is definitely the one Gabe gave me, it smells amazing as always.” Naomi said with a smile.
“Well at least we know Gabe and Mateo are in this together” Carla said with a small laugh.
“Yep those two can do anything when they work together.” Naomi said with a small chuckle.
“What does the next riddle say.” Carla asked.
“This object wears a leather coat to keep its skin in working order. It escorts you to other realms and has words that could even make you fly.” Carla read aloud.
“Hmm what wears leather and contains words that could transport you to different realms and make you fly?” Naomi said thinking aloud.
“Well the only way you can transport you to other realms is with a magic spell and a magical object like a wand.” Carla said pondering. Carla eyes widen and a smile forms on her face as he sees her Tamborita, “I got it! You need magic and a spell to open a portal to another realm and to fly, but where do you go to find the spell?” Carla asked Naomi.
“The Library has spell books that you could use to find the right spell.” Naomi answered tapping her chin in thought.
“That’s it Naomi, the answer is a spell book.” Carla said with a smile.
“Carla your right! A spell book is covered in leather to protect it from getting damaged, and has the magic words to make you fly and transport you to other realms.” Naomi said giving Carla a high-five.
Carla smiled and returns the high-five, “Next stop the library” Carla said.
Back in the garden Gabe and Mateo finally put out the fire. “Phew, we did it Mateo” Gabe said wiping his forehead.
“Yeah that was a close one, I’m sorry about your banner Gabe.” Mateo said rubbing his arm.
“It’s okay, it was an accident. At least we didn’t put the whole garden on fire right?” Gabe said with a chuckle elbowing him on the arm.
“Heh yeah that would have been a disaster.” Mateo said with a small chuckle.
“ Well we may not have a banner but at least we still have the tables, the gifts, and the food and the Mariachi.” Gabe said trying to look on the bright side.
The Royal chef tapped Gabe on the shoulder telling him that the food fell to the ground when he tripped, they didn’t have any food and it would take an hour to make the food all over again, he also told him that the Mariachi were not coming due to their singer getting sick causing him to loose his voice.
“Well now we don’t have any food, the food fell to the ground when he tripped and bumped into you. It will take him an hour to make all the food again, and the Mariachi canceled because their singer is sick. Gabe said pinching the bridge of his nose.
“What are we going to do? The girls are probably on their last riddle and could be here soon.” Mateo said worriedly.
“Okay let me think, we still have the presents, the tables, and the flowers. Maybe we can go to the cafe and get some of that special Sweethearts stew and bring it here?” Gabe suggested.
“That’s not a bad idea Gabe, but do you think the Cafe is still open? Its almost sunset, and most of the shops close around this time.” Mateo said.
“Your right Mateo, i don’t know If they are opened.”Gabe said with a sigh.
“Do you have any ideas?” Gabe asked Mateo.
“Well i could see if i have a spell that could conjure up some food, I’ve never tried it before but i could give it a shot.” Mateo said.
“Well if its the only way, we might as well try it.” Gabe stated.
“Okay let me go to my workshop and find the spell in one of my books, hopefully the girls are not their anymore.” Mateo said running inside the castle to find the spell.
Meanwhile Carla and Naomi were in the library looking for the next riddle. “Okay i already looked through 5 spell books and I haven’t found anything yet, what about you Naomi?” Carla asked putting a spell book down.
“Well this is the last spell book so it has to be in this one right?” Naomi asked.
“Yeah i suppose so, lets open it and find out.” Carla said opening the book.
Carla flipped through the pages until she saw a small pink paper in the middle, she grabs it closing the book and putting it down.
“What’s more rare and more valuable than gold, but easier to loose?” Carla read aloud.
“What’s more rare and valuable than gold but easy to loose..” Naomi recited tapping her foot in thought.
“What could be more rare than gold? Magic or maybe your family?” Carla suggested.
“Could be, but magic is rare but not as rare as gold. I think your onto something with the family party though.” Naomi answered.
“Well to me i think family and friendship is more rare and precious than gold, because its so rare to find, but it’s easy to loose if you’re not careful.” Carla said sitting down on a nearby chair.
As the girls kept trying to figure out the riddle, Mateo was in his workshop looking for the right spell book. “Aha found it! This should have the spell I’m looking for.” Mateo said writing it down on a piece of paper.
Mateo heard the girls talking to each other as he was writing down the spell, “I better hurry I don’t want them to see me.” Mateo thought to himself writing down the spell as fast as he could.
Mateo stuffed the piece of paper in his pocket and quietly ran past the library without the girls noticing him. “Gabe i got the spell, we better hurry though. Carla and Naomi have almost figured out the riddle and could be here any minute.” Mateo said out of breath.
“Okay well do your thing buddy.” Gabe said encouragingly.
“Chokltee” Mateo said hitting his Tamborita.
The magic flew from his Tamborita to the table, But instead of cooked food appearing 3 live animals appeared, a Cow, a Chicken, and a pig.
“Mateo that’s not food those are animals, What happened?” Gabe asked confused seeing the animals on top of the table causing it to break front the animals weight.
“Ugh! Nice going Mateo, I down the right spell but i was in a hurry so the girls wouldn’t see me i mixed up the words when i was writing it down.” Mateo explained facepalming himself.
“Can’t you reverse the spell?” Gabe asked.
“ I can but I don’t know the spell, I have to get it from my book. I won’t have time the girls will be here any second, what are we going to do now?” Mateo asked.
“I don’t know, this day is not going as we planned at all.” Gabe said with a sigh.
Meanwhile back at the library Carla and Naomi may have finally solved the riddle.
“I got it!” Naomi said.
“You solved the riddle?” Carla asked.
“I kept thing about what you said about how family Is more valuable and rare to find, and how easy you can loose it with whatever decisions you make. Well what if the answer is Love or Friendship?” Naomi said.
“Your right Naomi, True Love and Friendship is very hard and rare to find, and you can loose it very easily. So the answer has to be Love or Friendship, let’s see if that’s the answer.” Carla said looking for something that resembles Love.
“There look” Carla said pointing to the table with a plant on top and two crystal hearts hidden inside the pot.
“Their crystal hearts and it says I Love you on top, and there is a note too.” Naomi said grabbing the crystal hearts and note.
“The answer was love/friendship together, it was both answers. The crystal hearts are for both of us. It says, now that you have solved the riddles, we need to head to the place where they first asked us out on a date.” Naomi read aloud.
“The Garden” Naomi and Carla said in unison.
Naomi and Carla made their way to the Royal Garden, as soon as they had arrived they saw their boyfriends running after a chicken and a pig. The tables were broken, their was something big burned on the ground that looked like a banner, and their were burned flowers on the floor.
“Guys what’s going on?” Naomi said shocked at what she was seeing.
Mateo and Gabe stop what they were doing and looked at the two girls with very shocked and confused expressions on their face.
“Carla, Naomi, you solved those riddles pretty quick heh.” Mateo said awkwardly
“What happened was that Mateo and I wanted to surprise you with something special for the both of you for Sweethearts Day, we were going to have a nice dinner with your favorite food and give you the gifts we bought you, and Mateo was even going to do a light show with fireworks. It was going to be the first perfect Sweethearts Day, and now it’s ruined I’m sorry girls.. we just wanted the first Sweethearts day we had with you to be special and we ruined it.” Gabe explained with a sad sigh.
Carla and Naomi looked at each other for a moment and back at the garden, they knew Gabe and Mateo worked really hard to make this day special for them and it hurt them to see their boyfriends sad. They both walk up to their boyfriends, “Gabe this is the sweetest thing you could have done for me, i know how hard you worked to make this first Sweethearts Day we celebrate together special but.. I don’t need a romantic dinner, flowers, or even a present. You are enough for me and i love you with all my heart Gabe, spending time with you on this day is perfect enough for me.” Naomi said gazing into his eyes with a soft smile on her face.
“I love you too Naomi, your the perfect girl for me.” Gabe said gazing into her eyes with a gentle smile on his face.
“Mateo you know you didn’t really have to do all this for me, you know I love you and I’m thankful to have you in my life. You know I never celebrated Sweethearts Day before because i never had a boyfriend or a real relationship with anyone before, but i don’t need you to prove your love for me by planning this romantic dinner, flowers, or even gifts. I already know you love me, and I love you more than you could know. I appreciate everything you did to make this day special for us but, all i wanted was to spend the day with you. That to me would have been the perfect Sweethearts Day for me, I love you Mateo.” Carla said hugging him.
“I love you too Carla” Mateo said returning the hug.
“Well i guess the day wasn’t totally ruined, you both solved our riddles and got the presents we left for you.” Mateo said with small chuckle.
“Yes but i wish we still could have at least had a romantic dinner.” Gabe stated.
Carla and Naomi look at each other and a smile forms on their faces, “You know i think I know how we can help you with that.” Naomi said giving a smile to Carla.
“How about you make those animal disappear back to where they came from and you follow us will show you how we can help.” Carla said signaling them to follow her and Naomi once they were done.
Mateo went back to grab his spell book, once he found the right spell he said the magic words while hitting his Tamborita sending the animals back to where they came from. Gabe grabbed the presents and flowers they had bought their girlfriends and followed right behind them. They arrived to the village and stopped at the cafe that was remarkably still opened, “Hi, can we have four of your special Sweethearts stew to go please?” Naomi asked the owner.
“Yes of course! Its been so busy today, i had to close the cafe late today. Luckily you made it just in time before closing time. Ill go pack those stews for you, I’ll be right back.” The owner said returning to the kitchen.
“See i told you the cafe was still opened.” Gabe said giving Mateo an arm bump.
“Alright you were right, and i was wrong I admit it.” Mateo said returning the arm bump to Gabe.
The owner came back with a basket filled with his special stew and two boxes of Avalor chocolates. “Here is your stews and i put two boxes of chocolates in their for you guys, enjoy and Happy Sweethearts Day!” The owner said handing the basket of food to Naomi.
“Thank you, Happy Sweethearts Day!” Naomi said waving goodbye.
“Wait so where are we going?” Gabe asked.
“You’ll see, its a place Elena and i went to you’ll like it.” Naomi answered.
They continued to walk from a few miles until they finally made it to the place Naomi said she and Elena had came. “We made it, you can set the stuff down on the ground i want to show you both something.” Naomi said.
Gabe and Mateo put down the stuff they were caring on the ground and followed Naomi to the edge of a hill right next to a waterfall. “This is the place Elena and i came to when she was trying to find a hiding place for Shuriki’s wand. I picked this spot because it’s right next to this beautiful waterfall, and we can stare up into the beautiful blue sky.” Naomi said with a smile.
“Sweetheart its beautiful, i couldn’t have picked a better spot to spend Sweethearts Day with you.” Gabe said giving her a kiss on the cheek.
Carla and Mateo smiled fondly at the two couple, “Gabe has a point, this is a very beautiful spot to celebrate this special day with you.” Mateo said with a smile.
“Yes and I wouldn’t have it any other way, this day Is already special now that I’m with you my handsome Wizard.” Carla said giving him a kiss.
The four of them began to set everything up, they put a blanket on the ground and set the food on top. The two couples began to eat their food and talk about everything that had happen that day, Gabe and Mateo told them what had happened and Carla and Naomi told them about how they solved the riddles, they all laughed and were having a good time together.
“I don’t think this day could get anymore special.” Naomi said.
“I think i know how” Gabe said giving Naomi his gift.
“Aww Gabe, you didn’t have to get me anything.” Naomi said taking the gift.
“Well I couldn’t let you celebrate our first Sweethearts Day together without a special gift.” Gabe said with a soft smile.
Naomi opened the gift and pulled out the blue velvet box, she opened the box revealing the crystal necklace and a pair of blue diamond earrings.
Naomi gasp as she sees the necklace and earrings, “Gabe i-this is so beautiful i love it, I’ve never seen a pair of jewelry like this before. Thank you Gabe, I’ll treasure it forever.” Naomi said putting on the necklace and earrings.
“How does it look?” Naomi asked her boyfriend.
“It looks beautiful, just like you.” Gabe answered with a smile.
“Thank you Gabe, I love my gift.” Naomi said cuddling close to his side.
“Your welcome, something special and precious for someone beautiful and special.” Gabe said holding her tight in his arms.
“Carla i have something for you too.” Mateo said pulling out the Tamborita.
“I made you a new Tamborita, designed especially for you.” Mateo said handing her the Tamborita.
“Mateo it’s beautiful, I absolutely love it. The red rose in the middle, my two colors, and you even engraved our initials on the handle with hearts on the side. It’s absolutely beautiful Mateo, I love it. Was this that big project you were working on and not wanting to tell me?” Carla asked.
“Yes, I wanted it to be a surprise, and it couldn’t be a surprise if i told you what it was.” Mateo said sheepishly.
“Well you did a great job at that, thank you Mateo i will always carry it with me.” Carla said huddling closer to him.
“I love you” Carla said laying her head on his side.
“I love you too” Mateo said holding her close.
“You know what’s missing to make this night perfect? Fireworks.” Mateo said grabbing his Tamborita.
“That would make this night perfect, just try not to set this whole place on fire okay?” Gabe teasingly said with a chuckle.
“Haha very hilarious, we all know why that happened.” Mateo sarcastically said.
“I know, I’m just kidding bro.” Gabe said with a small laugh.
Mateo rolled his eyes and smiled, “Chihufeti” Mateo said hitting his Tamborita aiming for the sky.
The sky began to light up with fireworks, The 2 couples sat down with each other holding each other closely. The Sweethearts Day did not go as how Mateo and Gabe planned it at first, but the day ended up being better than they had originally planned. Sometimes the simplest things like being with the one you love are the ones that mean the most and will always be treasured forever.
The End
Thank you to all who read it this far, this is my first ship fic I’ve written so I apologize if it dragged or if the characters were out of character. I don’t know how these characters would have acted having girlfriends since they never showed in the show heh😅 So I went with what I thought how they would act and the actions they would do. I’m sorry if this did not come out as you wanted Anon, I did try to incorporate your idea. Since we didn’t get much interaction with these two ships interacting with each other, especially Carla and Mateo heh😅 Anyway I hope you like it, feedback, reblogs, likes, and constructive criticism is most welcome. Helps us fanfic writers know we are doing a a good job, every comment and reblog makes a writers day better😊 thank you for the request!
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let-it-raines · 4 years ago
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your wonder under summer skies (6/?)
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Summer in Storybrooke, Maine means one thing for its residents: tourist season. This year, for Emma Swan and Killian Jones, it means relationships ending and friendships changing all the while they attempt to figure out just what their relationship is. It’s somewhere straddling the line between friends and lovers, and there’s no guarantee of a soft landing if they fall into new territory.
rating: mature
a/n: I’m sorry for the delay. I’d hoped to have finished writing this story and then post pretty quickly, but personal life things have kept my mind other places. But hopefully you guys keep enjoying this story 💙
ao3: beginning | current
tumblr:  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
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Sand shifts beneath Killian’s feet as he runs along the shoreline. The tide hasn’t quite come in yet, the water just missing him as it wades onto the shore, but Skipper is getting soaked with salt water as he runs on his leash in front of Killian. He used to not have to put Skipper on a leash for their morning runs since no one else is on the beach at this time of the morning, but then the damn dog went and swam in the ocean only to get caught up in a rip tide.
So, leash it is even if it makes Killian run faster and harder than he ever intends to.
Bloody hell, his calves are absolutely on fire. He should have run along the boardwalk to save himself from this kind of pain.
“Skip,” Killian whistles. “Slow down, mate.”
The dog obviously doesn’t listen and keeps running, but Killian tugs on his leash until he pulls back, stopping and sitting down in the sand. He’s definitely going to have to be shaved later.
“Good boy,” Killian sighs as he finally catches up to him. “You want to head back home? Are you tired yet? I’m exhausted.”
Skipper barks and sticks out his tongue. Killian takes it as sign enough that it’s time to go home.
The sun begins to rise over the horizon on Killian’s walk home, and he slows his pace to watch the world be coated in shades of orange and pink that are like nothing he’s ever seen replicated. Milah used to try with her paintings. She was always so obsessed with the sun and the way it shaded things differently, and he’d catch her painting the same building over and over again with only the most minute differences. She was a bloody brilliant painter, too, and the more time that goes by, the more he wishes he’d been able to keep just one of her paintings.
He’d given them to her son.
Her son who deserved them much more that Killian ever did. His only hope is that they’re displayed instead of shoved in a supply closet or decaying in a landfill somewhere. Her family had been furious when they found out about him, and he doesn’t blame them.
He felt the same way.
Except Killian was the hidden boyfriend who was driving the car that killed Milah, and he wasn’t exactly welcomed by her family at the funeral. He’d always thought that she didn’t have family, that she had few people just like him, but she apparently had hordes of people in her life.
How can he still harbor love for her when she betrayed him?
When she’s the reason he hasn’t been able to commit himself to anyone since.
Well, there was Tink, but she was exactly the same as Milah in so many ways.
At least she didn’t help in giving him the scars that run up and down his arm and wrap around his hand so that there was a permanent physical reminder of her. She simply, well, sunrises don’t remind him of her in the way they remind him of Milah.
Skipper barks again, and Killian shakes himself out of it before continuing to walk up to the beach. Some of the cabana boys are already dragging out the lounge chair cushions to the beach, and Killian nods at them before turning at the boardwalk and making his way to the shop. He goes through the back door so that obnoxious bell won’t go off, and as soon as they get inside, Killian slips out of his shoes and takes Skipper’s leash off before quietly walking up the stairs.
The lights in the apartment are all still turned off, and Killian uses the dim light of the rising sun to find his way back to his bedroom. The only light in there is the brightness of Emma’s phone shining on her face.
“Why did you get up so early to run this morning?”
He pulls off his sweaty shirt and tosses it in his laundry bin. “I’ve got a full day. I’m down at the marina all day. Why? Did you want to come with?”
“I’m doing a spin class with Ruby tonight, but I do need to start running on the beach again. That is a hell of a workout.”
“You’re telling me. My calves are still on fire.”
Emma hums and keeps typing on her phone. What the hell is she writing this early in the morning? He didn’t even think she’d be awake, but he probably woke her up when he left. Damn. He thought he was being quiet.
“I’m going to take a shower. Do you need to take one?”
“I’m not showering with you, Jones.”
“I wasn’t asking.”
She drops her phone and raises her brow. “I’m sorry. You’re a man who doesn’t want to have shower sex? I think you may actually be a unicorn.”
“It’s a very small shower, love, and I don’t think my knees can take being on the tile. My legs are definitely too tired to have to hold you up.”
“I’m not complaining,” she laughs. “I’ve just never had this happen before. I feel like I need to document it. You can leave the shower on for me. I’ll hop in after.”
Killian raises his hand and salutes at Emma before stripping out of the rest of his clothes and walking into his bathroom. He closes the door behind him and turns on the shower, allowing it to heat up for a minute or two before stepping inside and letting the water pound against his back. It feels better than he imagined it could, and even with this, he knows he’s going to be beyond sore by this evening.
He easily could have stayed in bed with Emma this morning. He could have slept in, had some kind of drowsy, lazy morning sex, and then been on with his day without being sore.
Now that he thinks about it, that would have been the better option.
Then again, the two of them aren’t really wake up in the morning and have sex kind of people. It’s happened, but it almost feels outside of their deal. He’d like to stay inside the deal and within the guidelines of their rules as much as he possibly can.
It’s funny how easy it’s been to fall into this thing with her. It’s usually not like this when he starts sleeping with someone new. There’s a game to be played, no matter how much he’d sometimes rather not play it, but with Emma, it’s not like that. There’s no tip-toeing around each other or questioning motives, not anymore. It is what it is, and they’re both okay with that.
No games may be the most refreshing thing in the world.
Killian quickly scrubs himself down with soap and washes some shampoo in his hair before rinsing it all off. His bathroom door opens, and Emma walks through without a stitch of clothing on.
Bloody hell.
“You almost finished?” she asks, apparently without a care in the world that she’s nearly rendered him speechless.
And possibly changed his thoughts on shower sex, even if that would absolutely be the most uncomfortable thing in the world right now.
“It’s all yours, milady.” He slides open the glass door and grabs a towel while Emma slides by him and steps into the shower. “It may be a little hot.”
“It’s scorching. What is wrong with you?”
“Trying to relieve my sore muscles, love.”
“By burning your skin off?”
“It is not that hot.”
She rolls her eyes and grabs his shampoo bottle. He’s got to stop looking at her if he wants any hope of being able to get dressed comfortably.
“Do you have conditioner?”
Killian bends down and pulls out an old bottle that was left here. “This work?”
She reaches out and grabs it. “Do you have more of this?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Because whichever girl left this is my new favorite. This stuff is expensive, and I think I’ll be able to actually brush through my hair now.”
Killian scoffs and adjusts the towel around his waist. “What’s wrong with the stuff in the shower?”
“It’s awful. The fact that you have such good hair is amazing.”
Oh, well, if she’s going to compliment him, he can’t pass that opportunity up. He twists his head and gets in her eyeline, ignoring the way water is dripping off her breasts, and moves his brows up and down.
“Why, darling, who knew you had such a thing for my hair?”
Emma’s nose scrunches up. “Shut up.”
“No, no, I can’t let this go. Tell me, what else do you find attractive about me? I know there must be quite a list since you’ve decided to sleep with me on a regular basis.”
“Again, shut up.”
“Nope. I’m not letting this go now. You find me attractive, Swan, and believe it or not, I actually quite fancy you from time to time when you’re not yelling at me.”
“Don’t you have something to be doing?”
“I have nothing to do but stare at you.”
Emma’s laugh is louder than the spray of water, and he sees her shake her head before she goes back to washing her hair. Killian should shave this morning, but he can put that off until tomorrow when he’s not incredibly distracted by the naked woman showering next to him.
Killian brushes his teeth and dries his hair before walking out of the bathroom, leaving the door open for the steam to waft out, and he gets dressed for work. He’s still got hours until then, but if he puts joggers back on, he’ll not want to go. He knows the families who are coming in today for sailing lessons, and as much as he loves that part of the job, he does not want to deal with a group of twelve-year-old kids today.
The shower water keeps running, and Killian sees Emma out of the corner of his eyes before he opens his bedroom door and softly closes it behind him. The lights in the kitchen are on, and when he gets close enough, he sees Elsa standing over the stove with eggs in the pan. He didn’t even know she’d stayed over last night. He should be paying more attention to that. Then again, he doesn’t want Liam to know who he has staying over, so maybe it’s a good thing that they can quietly go about their business.
When Liam and Elsa get married, though, Killian hopes they either kick him out of here or move into Elsa’s place. He doesn’t know how much longer he can take living with Liam because of situations like this morning, but that’s not exactly an easy conversation to have.
“You making enough for everyone?” Killian asks.
Elsa twists around and smiles. “I’m making enough for me, but if you want some, that’s not a problem. Did you go running this morning?”
“Aye, and yes to the eggs, too.”
“That’s really early for you to go running. I didn’t even know you got up at that time.”
“Love, I almost never sleep in. The Navy will kill that habit before they do anything else.”
“Liam has managed to curb that, I think. That or he fakes sleeping in so I don’t feel lazy when I wake up later than him.”
“I think you may be onto his evil plans.”
She laughs again before plating the eggs in the pan and opening the carton next to her to crack open two more. “Oh, by the way, Emma is coming over this morning to help me with some wedding stuff. Anna is going to call in since that’s all really her cup of tea, but Emma is going to help get me a lower rate on one of the club venues. So, if you could go downstairs and unlock the door for her, that would be great.”
Killian swallows and grabs the plate of eggs from Elsa’s side, seasoning them and adding some cheese. “Isn’t that really more Mary Margaret’s department? The weddings, I mean.”
“Mary Margaret is more passionate about it, but they technically have the same job. Plus, Emma was free to meet me this early so we could talk to Anna at the same time.”
Killian accidentally shakes a little too much salt into his eggs. “When is Emma supposed to be here?”
“In about thirty minutes. Did I say you could have those eggs?”
Killian stuffs some overly salted eggs in his mouth. “I figured you’d want them while they were still hot, so I’d take the old ones.”
Elsa hums and nods. “You’re lucky I love you.”
“Don’t I know it?”
Killian stuffs the eggs into his mouth, eating far more quickly than any normal human should, and he’s going to regret it later. But he needs to finish and run back into his room because Emma cannot come out this way if Elsa is in the kitchen.
“Did the water just turn off?”
“Hmm?”
“I thought I heard the water turning off, but I must be hearing things.”
Shit.
“I didn’t hear anything.” Killian puts his half-empty plate down. “These are really good, Els. I’ll be right back, yeah? I need to check my phone.”
She doesn’t say anything, and Killian quickly leaves before she can. He doesn’t know what they’re going to do. Elsa is in the kitchen cooking, and she always likes to eat on the sofa. He can’t exactly tell Elsa to go back to Liam’s bedroom so he can sneak Emma out of the house only to sneak her back in.
What the hell, Emma? Why did she even come over last night? Did she not think this through? They’re going to have to start thinking things through if they don’t want to get everyone else involved. That would be a disaster that neither of them know how to get out of with how nosy their friends are.
When he gets back to his room, Emma is still in the bathroom with her hair wrapped up in a towel as she brushes her teeth. At least he thought to buy her a toothbrush to keep here after last week when she tried to use his.
“Do you want to tell me why you thought it was a good idea to meet Elsa here this early in the morning?”
“Huh?” Emma spits into the sink. “What? Why do you – oh you have egg on your shirt, KJ.”
He looks down and flicks it off. How did that happen? “Swan, why did you stay here last night if you knew you were meeting Elsa this morning?”
“Because then I wouldn’t have to drive from my place?”
“What was your plan? Get up and leave only to come back in two seconds later?”
“Pretty much, yeah.”
“And what do you plan on doing now since Elsa is awake and sitting in the living room eating her breakfast? She’s not going to leave, and I don’t really see how you plan on getting out.”
Emma’s toothbrush drops to the sink. “Fuck.”
“Yeah, exactly.”
“You have to get her out of there. Get her to take Skipper on a walk or something.”
“She has plans to meet you. she won’t have time. Plus, she knows I already went on a run with him.”
“Shit. What am I supposed to do climb out your window?” Killian’s brow arches. Now that’s an idea. “No,” Emma starts, “no, no, no. This is the second floor. I’m not jumping down. What if I break something?”
“You’ll land on the sand, and you only have to drop about ten feet.”
It’s ridiculous, this idea, but he’s starting to think it might be the best one. Killian walks over to the set of windows in his room, opens one up, and looks down at the small ledge. His room drops directly down onto some sand with Liam’s bedroom and the living area completely out of sight, and as long as she doesn’t land terribly, she should be fine.
Yeah, just fine.
Emma’s stare switches between him and the window, but eventually she goes to grab all of her things, either putting them on or holding them in her hands, and makes her way toward the window. She tosses her shoes down first and then her purse. Finally, she climbs over the ledge of the window and looks back at him.
“Next time, we’re staying at my place or we don’t spend the night or something. I am not climbing out of a window for you again.”
“If I stay at your place, what am I going to do about Skipper?”
“Have Liam take care of him.”
“I can’t very well tell Liam I’m spending the night at your place because I’m shagging you, now can I?”
Emma’s eyes roll. “Your British is coming out. And, literally, Jones, just tell him you went home with a woman. It’s not a lie. It’s not the full truth, but it’s not a lie. Most importantly, it means I don’t have to jump from a window so I can talk to Elsa about price packages for her wedding.”
He hates to admit it, but she makes a good point.
They obviously are still working out all of the kinks in this arrangement since neither of them thought them through.
Idiots. The both of them.
“If I break something, you have to clean my apartment for me.”
“I will be happy to, love.”
“And you owe me lunch this week.”
“You can eat all of my extra crisps for the foreseeable future.”
Emma nods and hooks her leg over the window ledge. He hears her swallow, and then she’s climbing down and holding on to the window as she dangles from side of the building.
“You’re lucky that the sex is good, Jones. And that you do manage to entertain me with more than mediocre conversation.”
“There you go complimenting me again.” Killian flashes her a smile and winks. She is definitely going to try to murder him when she gets back up to this apartment. “I’m not the one who scheduled a meeting. This is technically all your fault.”
Emma doesn’t respond. Instead she looks down at the ground and then drops with a subtle thud. When Killian looks down, he sees her standing on her feet brushing the sand off her ass. That’s definitely going to be a devil tomorrow.
Killian chuckles to himself and then closes his window before heading back out of his room. He’s still got to unlock the shop for Emma. Maybe he should get her a key.
Wait, no. That would definitely be taking it too far.
“Your eggs are definitely cold now,” Elsa says as he walks through the living room where she’s now sitting with her food in front of her. His remaining eggs remain untouched next to hers. “I thought you were avoiding that.”
“No, I was avoiding that for you. I don’t actually mind because Skipper will eat leftovers anyway.”
“Where is Skipper?”
“He’s probably still wandering around downstairs. I’ll send him up when I unlock everything.”
When Killian finally gets to the front door, Emma is standing outside with her arms crossed over her chest and her lips pressed into a firm line. God, all he wants to do is laugh, but he does still want to live to see tomorrow.
“Good morning, milady,” Killian sighs. “I’m loving the look. Very natural. The use of sand is just…stunning.”
Okay, maybe he doesn’t want to live to see tomorrow.
“I hate you.”
“I know.”
“I am not doing that again.” “As long as you plan things a little better, you won’t have to.”
Emma huffs and brushes past him, but he reaches out and tugs on her wrist until she’s pulling back to him and standing with her hands pressed against his chest. He can see her freckles and the blonde of her eyelashes when she looks like this, and it reminds him of all the times they’ve gone out on the ocean or spent the day at the beach.
It reminds him of how close her lips are to his.
“You have sand in your hair, love.” He reaches up and picks a few pieces out, letting them fall to the ground before he tucks her hair back into place. “How did that happen?”
Emma’s lips part. “I don’t – I – ”
There’s a bark behind the two of them, and they quickly part as Skipper sticks his nose between the two of them.
“I need to go meet Elsa,” Emma finally says as she scratches behind Skip’s ears. “You want to come and talk weddings with us?”
“You know, love, I think I just might.”
“You sure? Anna is very into it, I’ve heard.” “Anna is very into everything. It’s part of her charm. This is also her actual job.”
“True. I’m just kind of here to help with finding them a date. They want it to be this summer.”
Killian mock gasps and walks with Emma. “So soon? Do you think my brother has been improper and gotten that nice girl pregnant?”
“I don’t know, but that’s the gossip around these parts.”
“However will they regain a good reputation? Do you think it will affect the business?”
“It might. You best prepare to be making less money.” “What the hell are the two of you talking about?” Elsa laughs as they walk into the apartment.
“Oh, just how Liam knocked you up and ruined your reputation.”
Elsa’s eyes roll. “I’m not pregnant, and we don’t live in the 1800s.”
“Still. Such a short engagement. People might get ideas.”
“You’re far too cheeky for it to be this early in the morning,” Elsa sighs. “Do you have sand on your jeans, Emma?”
Killian bites his tongue, but he still can’t hold in his chuckle. Emma reaches over to slap him, but she stops herself right before and places her hand on his shoulder before looking down at her jeans.
They are not smooth.
“Huh,” Emma sighs, “I guess that I do. It was windy this morning. It must have blown over on me. Is Liam joining us?”
“Yeah, he’s getting dressed. I honestly think he might be trying to avoid Anna.”
“Or me,” Emma mumbles so quietly Killian thinks only he hears it.
“What?” Elsa asks.
“Nothing, nothing,” Emma quickly corrects. “I’m going to fix myself some coffee and then we’ll get started. Do you have all your numbers?”
“On my phone, yeah.”
Skipper comes walking up the stairs and sniffs along Killian’s shoes before moving over to Elsa and settling down at her feet. The back bedroom door opens, and Liam walks out. Part of Killian wants to stay for this meeting, to get to know what exactly his brother and Elsa are going to plan for their wedding, but he also doesn’t want to be a witness for the cold shoulder Liam will inevitably give Emma. Killian’s never understood Liam’s problem with Emma, but hopefully the man can keep it together enough to not make some asinine remark when Emma is doing him a favor.
“Well,” Liam smiles, “are we all ready to plan a wedding?”
-/-
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